


Digivengers: Digital Avengers Arc 2: Love

by Auragongal



Series: Digivengers [2]
Category: Avengers Assemble (Cartoon), Digimon - All Media Types, Marvel (Comics), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Guest Starring Sora and Yolei, Who is Swallowtail the Atoner?, Witchelny
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-05
Updated: 2016-07-21
Packaged: 2018-06-06 13:36:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 27
Words: 131,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6756352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Auragongal/pseuds/Auragongal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Once our heroes reach the next ring, Scott Lang literally crashes into the Resistance and later Sheena is captured and Percy Black has to deal with his secret being revealed and the backlash from it as well. Of course, after rescuing Thor with the help of a traitor to Lillithmon's forces, a road trip occurs to gather the Weapon of the Knight of Love: The Blade Lavaetinn and the armor Brisingamen. </p><p>All to save Sheena, Venusmon, and the Ring of Love itself before it goes kerplooey under Lillithmon's reign.</p><p>Also, who in blazes is this Nomad Guy that shows up?</p><p>More importantly, What the hell is Lillithmon up to?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Party Crashers at Whamon Cove, and Astamon's Grand Entrance!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes have a proper Victory Party thanks to Tina, but unfortunately, there's always something to pop up and cause trouble...

Normally, it was quiet at Whamon Cove, the beach normally just letting the waves crash against the sand as various aquatic digimon swam in the ocean beyond while the sun shone overhead.

Today however, was much different. In fact, at the request of one Tina Starling the Resistance decided to hold a proper victory celebration at Whamon Cove. Sure, the place was where the late mad digimon, Mercurymon happened to make an appearance and kidnap Jean, but because of that, it spurred the Resistance to act and also defeat the evil digimon.

Plus, it was a lovely location anyway, so the idea of having a victory party there was practically accepted. With a lot of digimon having fun and mingling, and even the Lord of Hope himself, Seraphimon, had shown up to have fun. As the angel also decided to sneak off with the other armored angel, Ophanimon for a private moment, Tony took charge of the grill with a few other digimon to help cook, with an army with them partying it up, he was going to need the help. Captain America on the other hand, was just sketching in a notepad Wisemon had given him, enjoying the party so far, and making sure to sketch the moments he saw while Bruce and FanBeemon were both taking it easy and just sitting on a rock to watch how things were going.

Under the shade of a large palm tree, Esteban, Tandy, Scott, Jean and their digimon were talking about a book the Spanish boy had read before the party.

“So, it seems that this Apocalymon was made up of destroyed evil digimon and meant to be constantly depressed.” he began, “However, the author of the book did bring in some… rather silly quotes, like I am the ultimate evil, complete with hot and cold running water! or, DO YOU THINK IT’S FAIR THAT I SHOULD HAVE TO LIVE WITH ALL THIS AGONY? WHY SHOULD YOU GET TO LAUGH WHILE I AM FORCED TO CRY? WHY DO YOU GET TO TASTE THE BEST THAT LIFE HAS TO OFFER, WHILE ALL I DO IS CHOKE ON ITS LEFTOVERS?! ANSWER ME THIS! WHY DO ALL OF YOU GET THE PIZZA, WHILE I GET THE CRUSTS?!?! In all honesty, the guy seemed to be a major ham.”

“Or a bad comedian.” Jean said, her tone not really showing any emotion as usual, but still managed to cause her twin brother to laugh like a hyena. Tandy however, just chuckled nervously and smiled. She wasn’t sure why, but Jean kind of creeped her out.

Meanwhile though, Percy and Sheena were alone, while their digimon were off having fun. Of course, Percy had told his partner he’d let Sheena in on his family secret, and had planned to do it in private.

“So, what’s up Percy?” Sheena asked, while the boy took a deep breath and began to speak.

“Well, I kind of have a bit of an-” unfortunately, he was interrupted as a group of random digimon called out to them, and waved. Waving back, Percy then tried to shoo them away before trying to continue. “As I was saying before that interruption, my fa-”

“So, how’s the party you two?” Tina Starling then said as she walked up to them while carrying Phascomon and also interrupting the British Punk as he forced a smile.

“Fine, just bloody fine.” he said through clenched teeth.

“It’s great!” Sheena said, “I’m surprised actually, I didn’t really know how your parties tended to go, since, well you never invited me.”

“Well, hopefully that might change.” Tina said with a smile, before she and Phascomon walked away. Once she was gone, Sheena then turned to Percy again.

“So, you were saying?”

“Right.” Percy said, before checking to make sure no one else was going to interrupt him. Seeing nothing heading their way though, he relaxed and continued, “Okay, so my mum’s side of the fa-”

“GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE PILE OF DIGI-DUNG!” They heard Dorumon yell then, and both moved back to avoid being run over by the digimon as it chased a smaller one that looked like a small, pixelated version of Agumon. Once they passed though, Percy had become so irritated that he just walked off grumbling as Sheena was left behind in confusion. Seeing that he’d probably needed time to himself though, the pink haired girl decided to see what her partner was up to.

Unfortunately, the great atmosphere of the party was not going to last, as just then, someone decided to crash the party.

“Behold Resistance!” said a voice shouting over the partying digimon, “We are here to aid you in defeating Mercurymon!”

“He’s been dead for two days Malware Head!” said a digimon who resembled an armadillo. As that digimon, and everyone else went on to see the source of the voice though, they soon spotted a proudly standing, angelic digimon in blue and gold armor, white pants, two very large shields covering his arms, and blond hair flowing upward from behind his helmet. Of course, his proud stance faltered as he heard Armadillomon’s words, and the angel’s companion- which looked like a girl piloting a pig themed mech-suit and carrying what looked like a metal rake, simply rolled her eyes and face palmed.

Unfortunately, Beezlemon recognized the digimon who crashed the party all too well. As he was currently out of armor and wearing a pair of black swim-trunks, while Mervamon was wearing a white bikini and laying on a towel next to him, he covered his masked face with his hand and groaned before speaking up.

“What do you want, Moron?” he called out to the digimon, who seemed to jump at seeing that Beezlemon was there at all, and also failed to notice the fact that his wing was bandaged up.

“I’m here to lead the Resistance to victory, and if you’re in charge…” the mystery angel said before dramatically pointing at the ex-demon lord, “THEN I CHALLENGE YOU FOR LEADERSHIP!”

“Not interested Dominimon, so go away.” Beezlemon said as he made a shooing motion with his hand while sitting up along with Mervamon, who rolled her eyes at the intruder and instead just moved a bit closer to Beezlemon. Of course, the moronic angel saw this and faltered a bit as he spoke again.

“Oh come on!” Dominimon shouted as he threw his hands up into the air, “Not only do you have a hottie like Minervamon with you, but you’re in an item with her?! Not to mention you two got to keep your mentor while we had to lose ours in battle!”

“Yeah!” shouted the girl in the pig-mech, before glaring at her partner over calling Mervamon a “hottie.”

“The name’s Mervamon now, dammit!” the snake armed warrior woman snapped, while Medullia lifted its head and hissed at the two intruders.

“Yeah, we’re not an item… That, and Gallantmon’s not in the digital world anymore. Don’t you pay attention to current events?” Beezlemon said, not really caring or noticing the dirty look he earned from Mervamon, “Besides, what happened to Lekismon?”

“None of your business!” both intruders said at once, before Dominimon spoke again, “And I again challenge you for your role as the Resistance’s leader!”

Tina Starling however, did not like anyone crashing a party she set up, and started walking over to the crashers, her partner Phascomon in her arms as she held a cold look on her face. Scott however, saw this and turned a bit pale.

“Oh no. She’s pissed.” Scott said, confusing Sheena who just walked up.

“So?” Sheena said, “I pissed her off all the time back home, what’s different about this time??”

“No, what you and Tina had back on Earth was just her normal hatred of Mutants. This is real anger caused by interrupting her party. Three years ago, Jean and I were at a party, and then someone tried to rob Tina’s house during it. So, when he barged in and tried to hold everyone hostage, she pulled out the remote for the security system and…”

It was then that Scott fell silent and shuddered, before curling up into a ball and muttering nonsense about cake and an evil in a frilly pink dress.

“… The crook was detained.” Jean then finished simply, before going quiet once more. Still confused, Sheena just watched the show with everyone else as Tina Starling reached the crashers.

“Please leave.” Tina said calmly despite the glare on her face, while Dominimon looked down at the girl before looking back at his partner for a moment, and both shrugging.

“You don’t really scare me, or Cho Hakkaimon kid.” he said, “Nor does your little friend.”

As Phascomon looked up and stared at them with its usual sleepy gaze, Cho Hakkaimon seemed to look quite creeped out, as if recognizing it from somewhere. In fact, she actually took a step back and shuddered.

“You don’t get it Dominimon.” Tina then said, “This party is something I suggested and set up. And I will not tolerate anyone crashing it and causing trouble. So here is your last warning, and I ask one last time that you please, leave.”

Dominimon;s response was sending her flying across the beach, letting her land in a pile of sand, and followed up with a laugh.

“Don’t waste my time kid.” He then said, “I’m only interested in battling Beezlemon and taking over the resistance!”

Seeing that the moronic angel had just dug himself into a good bit of trouble, several digimon were preparing to get into a brawl, when Tina stood up, dusted herself off, and shouted.

“Nobody else get involved.” she said, before digivolving her partner into its champion form, Porcupamon, “This is between them, me, and my partner. They crashed my party, and as I am the one most offended by their refusal to leave without a fight, I, and my partner will kick them out of the party our selves.”

As Porcapumon walked towards the two party crashers, Tina’s crest of Sincerity glowed again, just as the pig suited Cho Hakkaimon charged in with her apparently rocket powered rake. The rubbersuited and clawed digimon barely managed to get out of the way of the rake’s swing, causing up a whirlwind of sand around the champion level Porcapumon.

And then, Tina sent a beam of white light towards her partner, clearing the whirlwind away as his body glowed with the power of the crest of Sincerity. Porcupamon then proceeded remove the hose going from its mouth to its heart-patch, and followed it up by ripping off his skin. Beneath the rubber and cloth that covered it however, a new figure emerged, this one being a tall man in a beastly mask, and a blue, pinstriped suit that also had bandages around his left thigh. The mask’s red eyes shone as his feet left the remains of his Champion form, revealing them to be brown and the toe of the shoes tipped with three spikes. He had a golden sheathe with a dagger in it hanging on his hip and white gloves on his hands, and also a red dress shirt with a turtle neck under his suit jacket. Then, he picked up the remains of his old form, and with a shake, turned it into a gray trenchcoat with red accents and what looked like fangs hanging from the sleeves and the very bottom of the coat, and slipped it on as purple bat wings popped out of his lower back. Finally, he snapped his fingers and summoned a red, very tattered scarf and put it on, before popping his neck, smirking, and introducing himself

“Astamon’s back in business!”

All who saw the change were feeling a mix of shock, horror, fear, and amazement as the pudgy digimon became something cool, while Beezlemon’s eyes widened as he recognized Astamon as the Ultimate form of his brother, the dangerous Belphemon. Remembering how the digimon could be before becoming a demon lord, especially when it came to his enemies, Beezlemon actually gulped.

“Oh crap.” he said, before looking towards Mervamon. “We should go look for cover, he can be… trigger happy.”

Understanding what he meant, the two then dashed behind a rock, while Cho Hakkaimon immediately ran way to hide as well after realizing who exactly that girl was. However, Dominimon, did not seem to be phazed.

“So?” Dominimon said, whether he was putting up a front or really this stupid was unknown, “You’re just an Ultimate level demon digimon, while I’m a holy Mega Level, what can you do to even scratch me?”

“Dominimon!” Cho Hakkaimon then shouted from behind a rock, “Maybe we should just surrender and work with Beezlemon!”

“No way!” Dominimon then shouted, “To submit myself to a Demon Lord, is to ensure my fall! Evil can never change Cho Hakkaimon, and I will not let the Resistance be led to its doom by Beezlemon!”

“Hey!” Diamondback shouted, taking offense about the remark about evil never changing. Astamon however, simply frowned and crossed his arms, his red eyes never leaving the angel in front of him.

“Ya knows something knucklehead? Yer nuthin’ more than a tool.” he began in his gruff voice, “There’s also two things I can’t stands right now. Foist of all, it’s digimon that refuses to believe my Big Brudder Beezlemon can change, even when the proof is right in front of’em. Seconds, is that you hurt and pissed off Sweetheart, and I don’t take kindly to that.”

As he turned his head to see his partner, everyone then noticed that despite the landing, the girl was scratched up and bleeding a little while still standing in anger. Astamon then reached under his coat in silence, as if feeling around for something.

“And what are you going to do about it?” Dominimon asked, still cocky despite the fact he had probably pissed off a lot of digimon by now, as well as three superheroes.

His question was answered as Astamon pulled out a very large tommy-gun with a golden fish on the stock. While Sheena had long ago accepted the strangeness of the digital world, espeically when it came to messing with known laws of physics, Esteban couldn’t help but question just how Astamon could hide a machine gun under his coat without it looking bulky as a result.

“I’m gonna give ya just one last chance. Either you and you’re partna give up and join no matter who leads and apologize to Sweetheart, or…” he said, pointing the gun right at the angel. “I shoot the both of yas with my Oro Salmòn!” 

“Golden Salmon?! Seriously?! What is with this world and naming guns after food!?” Esteban shouted, only to be decked by Sheena by killing the moment. Unfortunately, it was about to be ruined again as Seraphimon returned with Ophanimon on his arm, and lipstick marks on his helmet. Seeing Dominimon however, caused the Lord of Hope to groan and shake his head as the angel facing down the irate demonic gangster spoke again.

“No way! I will never let my self fall and become a demon digimon by following Beezlemon!” he said, before noticing Seraphimon on the other side of the beach with his helmeted face in his hand, “Big brother! Hey! Look who’s come to help!”

“Dominimon, you’re an embarrassment to the family…” Seraphimon then groaned under his breath before he spoke up. “Dominimon I believe I speak for several digimon here when I say that you are an idiot if you cannot except that digimon, good and bad, can change. And I actually trust Beezlemon’s leadership over what I fear will happen if you were left in charge.”

Dominimon seemed to turn completely white at the words, put into a state of shock as he felt his dear sibling had gone to the Dark Side. In his eyes at least, but as Dominimon was seemingly not the brightest star in the sky, while on the other hand Seraphimon seemed quite wise, it was probably a wonder how the two could have been related at all.

“Okay, dis is just gettin too silly!” Astamon growled before shouting, “CAN I PLEASE JUST SHOOT HIM ALREADY!”

“Oh,” Seraphimon then said, signalling for the demon to continue, despite the protests of Dominimon, “I won’t stop you. Dominimon needs a lesson in humility anyway.”

Astamon then grinned and pointed his gun at Dominimon, the digimon and humans around them scattering for cover as they sensed that things were going to get crazy.

“HELLFIRE!” Astamon then shouted, before pulling the trigger and unleashing a literal bullet hell on Dominimon. Once the gun was out of ammo, he put it back into his coat and then ran towards the holey digimon until he was just in range for a hand to hand attack.

“Maverick!” he then said, his foot surrounding itself with dark energy and striking right between Dominimon’s legs. The angel then crumpled to the ground, screaming for mercy as Astamon decided to add insult to injury by stomping on him and kicking sand in his face. Once he was done though, he walked away and let Beezlemon take over with a pair of digimon that then proceeded to cuff Dominimon as Cho Hakkaimon got out of hiding.

“Please revert me to a digi-egg…” Dominimon squeaked with shame, while his rival simply looked down and rolled all three of his eyes.

“Dominimon,” Beezlemon then said, “You’re under arrest for crashing a party that was only for resistance members, giving a groundless challenge for the leadership of the Resistance over a petty rivalry, harming a human child brought in to help save our world, and finally, for just being a general moron. You’re sentence is three weeks in the dungeon followed by community service in the ruins’ inner city.”

With the party crasher booked and being taken away, his accomplice then approached the former demon lord and apologized for Dominimon’s actions, claiming that he’d been like this since Craniamon’s deletion. As she then followed her partner and the guards escorting him, she quickly grabbed the food that had been chucked at him (mostly tomatoes), and gulped them down due to getting hungry. Of course, some of the digimon threw drinks at the crasher as well, while Seraphimon and Ophanimon snuck away again for more privacy.

Tony Stark however, looked down at Cap, who was in the middle of sketching the recent event, and seemed very focused before Tony himself spoke up.

“Okay, as crazy as this world can be, as well as Earth, sometimes,” Tony then said, “I never really thought I’d see a demonic gangster kick an angel’s ass over a little girl. It may just be the silliest thing I’ve seen since I got here!”

~~000~~

Meanwhile, in the dungeon under the Resistance Base, Myotismon, moaned as he held the bars to his cell.

“I wanted to go to Whamon Cove…” he whined, “I may be a vampire, but I still like a nice party! Why didn’t anyone let me go!?”

“Shut up Myotismon” said one of the other prisoners, this one a sunglasses wearing ape named Etemon “I’m trying to sleep!”

Etemon then flung a pile of dung at Myotismon, hitting him in the face as the vampire grumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes:
> 
> So, here we are at the start of the second arc of Digivengers! In fact, what better way to begin by having a party and another digivolution to Ultimate?
> 
> Okay, yeah, I'm using the dub level names over the original ones in Japan. It's what I'm used to alright?
> 
> And yeah... Percy can't seem to catch a break while telling Sheena about Loki, can he? It's going to get worse too.
> 
> Now then, Who are these two losers who crashed the party?
> 
> Well, Dominimon is actually from the V-Tamer 01 Manga, and was a form Magna Angemon took after getting his butt kicked as Seraphimon. So, think of Dominimon as more of a "Weaker Seraphimon" hence the little brother thing. Of course, in this fic, this Dominimon is completely different from how he was in the Manga, and in arc 3? Dominimon is going to really get something to make him completely different than his Manga Counterpart... and also character development.
> 
> Now, as for Cho Hakkaimon, she's based on a character from Journey to the West, and is a companion to Sanzomon. For some reason, her and Sanzomon are rule 63 versions of their original counterparts, but eh, oh well. Also, Cho may be the kind to get jealous when it comes to Dominimon...
> 
> As for the Apocalymon thing? I just felt like throwing those quotes in for fun.
> 
> In regards to Astamon though, I figured he needed a good entrance since after this part, he's sticking around in that form for most likely the rest of the fic. And yes, toon physics like Hammer Space are fun to mess with when it comes to hard science types like Tony and Esteban.
> 
> And if you noticed, Mervamon doesn't seem to be happy about Beezlemon saying they're not a couple. So, that may come up later in this arc... Also that Seraphimon and Ophanimon have a thing going on.
> 
> Finally, the bit with Myotismon... if you thought he was dead, well he ain't yet. And if you imagined the dub voices for both him and Etemon in that bit, then I hoped it was as funny as I was going for.
> 
> Next time? We finally leave the Ring of Hope.


	2. Enter the Ring of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes head to the next area they need to liberate... and have an unexpected meeting as well.

Beezlemon was asleep in his chambers, his wing still bandaged up as he slept on his side. He felt rather at peace right now, with his old rival and all around moron Dominimon in a jail cell, as well as the fact he didn’t have to deal with Seraphimon sneaking into his room to speak with him in the middle of the night. It seemed that for once, Beezlemon would get a good night’s sleep.

And then Hi-VisionMonitamon busted in, and began jumping on his bed.

“Beezlemon! Beezlemon!” he cried, causing the resistance leader to groan as he woke up and glared at the black clad, tv-headed ninja with a satellite dish.

“ _Yes?_ “ the Resistance Leader growled, wondering what was so important that it needed to interrupt his much needed sleep.

“Message for you, from Earth!” the digital disturbance said, before clicking his screen on and showing the face of a saber-fanged Leomon. This caused Beezlemon to become much more awake as he sat up and spoke.

“L-Leomon?” he said, “But, I thought you were killed on earth!”

“I got better.” said the caller, “Also, I’m GrapLeomon now, and I’m stuck on Earth with Gallantmon, HiAndromon, MagnaKidmon, BanchoStingmon, BanchoGolemon, and Beowulfmon. We’ve been taken in by the Human organization SHIELD, and we’ve been watching your exploits.”

“I see.” Beezlemon said, feeling relieved as he learned that the missing fighters weren’t captured like he feared, and that Leomon was actually alive. Of course, he then realized that this might also mean his less than stellar moments were seen as well, and looked a bit worried. “So, why are you calling? Why wait till now?”

“Well, first I needed to get a moment where I knew I wouldn’t be disturbed while trying to call you.” He said, before grumbling a bit, “As well as remember how to send calls through the Monitamon. As to why I’m calling, I’m going to tell you how I moved the Primary Village years ago.”

Beezlemon then fell silent and listened, being sure to record the message for later.

~~000~~

The following morning, Beezlemon sat in the throne room as he watched the Digital Knights, Mervamon, Wisemon, Angewomon, LadyDevimon, Valkyrimon, Captain America, Tony Stark, Diamondback and the rest of her D-Backers entered. Of course, before he could begin to tell him the news, he was rather surprised that Tina’s partner Phascomon, was still in its Ultimate form from yesterday’s events.

“Astamon, why haven’t you changed back yet?” Beezlemon then asked.

“Eh, I like this form better, Brudder. Besides, I don’t want Sweetheart to tire herself out by carrying me around all the time.” Astamon then said, before giving a shrug. Accepting the answer before things got derailed, Beezlemon then nodded before getting straight to business.

“Alright, I’m glad all of you could make it this morning.” he said with a smile, “Today, we’re heading to the Ring of Love.”

The group cheered, until Tony spoke up.

“So, how are we going to get there?” he asked, before Beezlemon smirked at the flirtatious human.

“Hi-Vision Monitamon, if you would please.” he then said as he turned to the little monitor headed ninja. The digimon’s monitor then flickered to life as the face of GrapLeomon appeared, surprising the kids, Tony, and Cap.

“Is that-” Cap began to ask, only to be cut off by Beezlemon nodding as the image spoke.

_“Okay, you’re recording this, right? Good. Now, to get the entire base to the Ring of Love, you’re going to have to awaken ElDradimon. In order to do that, you’ll have to go behind the throne and push the button to open the secret passage that leads to ElDradimon’s Digi-core. Go down the stairs that’s revealed, follow the hallway, and you’ll come to a room. Now, the control panel will only pop up if you have the song ‘Birdhouse in your Soul’ playing, so bring Wisemon with you since I know he’s a big fan of TMBG back when he and I were roommates at Digi U, and I’m pretty damn sure that hasn’t changed. After the console appears, and before the song ends, enter the password ‘OikawaButterfly’ and your destination, and ElDradimon will take you there. Good luck Beezlemon, considering who’s in charge of the Ring of Love for Plutomon’s goons, you’re going to need it. GrapLeomon, out.”_

With the message finished, the screen turned off, and Beezlemon stood up, went behind his throne and pushed the raised brick behind it on the dais. With a shudder, the back wall then opened up to reveal the hidden passage and with a signal to Wisemon, spoke up.

“The rest of you stay here.” Beezlemon said, “We shouldn’t be too long.”

Then, they left, the rest of the group spent the next few minutes talking among themselves.

“So, wait.” Tony then said, “We’re in a very, very large digimon, that’s what he pretty much said, right? Doesn’t anyone else feel kind of weirded out that we’re temporarily living in a monster?”

“I’ve been here for about a decade,” Diamondback then said with a shrug, “so there’s very little in this place that surprises me anymore. Just wait until you learn where their meat comes from.”

“And… where is that?” Cap then asked, hoping he wasn’t going to regret the answer.

“They grow it on farms like we would for fruits, grains, and vegetables.” Diamondback then said as if it was practically normal, “I mean, seriously. Find a farm in the Digital World, and you’ll be able to pluck t-bone steaks off a bush as if they were blueberries.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” Tony said, and for the rest of the time, the group simply chatted about various things.

Then, the base started to shake, just as Wisemon and Beezlemon returned, and caught their breath.

“What the bloody hell!?” Percy cried out, only for a voice coming from the very room to answer them.

“This ElDradimon,” it said, the voice majestic, regal, and most importantly, loud, “Preparing Ring transfer, next stop: the Ring of Love.”

Wisemon then conjured up an image of the outside of the base with his time and space orbs- once everyone’s ears stopped ringing, and showed that that their base, the inner city, Primary Village and the rest of the ruins they called their temporary home was on the back of a gigantic turtle like digimon. In fact, the digimon then produced a shield around its body and began to rise into the air, the image of File Island on the screen growing smaller and smaller as the view from the nearby window showed the sky to be normal at first, before a shift occurred as they passed through something, and the sky became a mix between starry and bright, and also having data streams and binary code going through it as well. Of course, when they looked back at the screen, they were surprised that the Ring of Hope wasn’t just the name of a region of the Digital world like it was on the map, but actually happened to be a literal golden ring showing the image of File Island and other islands floating within the ocean.

“What.” Tony was the first to say, “I’m sorry, but what the hell is this?! I had thought this world was all one place, not… weird… portal things!”

“Hey, just be happy we get to be going on ElDradimon.” Mervamon said, “When I went to the Ring of Love, we had to break into one of Mercurymon’s facilities and hijack a data stream. And even then, only Ultimate and Mega Level digimon could go through them. Anything below that needed a shield or a ship of some kind to pass through safely, or else they’d risk being destroyed.”

“I’m sorry,” Tony then said, “But where we humans come from, there are no rings to go to, since Earth is just one united world. How is the Digital World like this anyway?!”

“Yeesh, so angry because things don’t make sense like they normally would.” said a new voice, this one much quieter than ElDradimon, and also sounding similar to Myotismon- much to Bruce and FanBeemon’s concern, except not as threatening.

“Everyone, look!” Bruce said, pointing as a swarm of iridescent butterflies flew into the throne room, before merging together to form what seemed to be a translucent human male in a full facemask decorated with butterflies, while also having long black hair. The stranger also wore a pale blue and white trenchcoat, a soft pink dress shirt with grey slacks, and a white tie. Worried that it might be an attack, the humans prepared to fight, while the digimon seemed rather unsure about what they should do.

“Who are you?” Cap asked, causing the masked man to bow.

“Pardon me for scaring all of you. I am Swallowtail the Atoner, and I came to this Digital World a long, long time ago when it was simply one world connected to your own. However, a great threat by the name of Gulfmon occurred, and in order to keep another occurence from happening, the nine original Ring Masters were forced to split the Digital World, with the Original Master of Light staying close to the world’s core AI, Yggdrasil.”

Dorumon seemed to growl at the mention of the core, due to what had happened in his past life of Alphamon, but Swallowtail simply continued.

“The rings- named for the crests you nine children carry even now, I fear have been apart for too long. Even with Plutomon’s defeat, I believe that with as much damage as he has caused already with his minions, the separation may lead to the digital world into destruction. Unless, the world is reunited and stabilized.”

“How do we do that?” Megan asked with a lot of worry, while Swallowtail looked at her, and seemed to flinch a bit before relaxing.

“You seem like someone I once knew.” he said more to himself than anything, before going on to answer her question, “I believe the current Ring Masters, and not the ones under Plutomon’s employ, should be able to rejoin the rings- if they are convinced to agree to it. However, if all of you stand united, I believe it can be done.”

“Don’t worry Swallowtail,” Sheena then said with a smile, “I’m sure we can succeed in returning the Digital World to how it’s meant to be!”

Swallowtail then looked at the Knight of Hope, and nodded before falling silent. In fact, as the stranger was reminded of another optimistic goggle wearing hero he once knew, his thoughts then headed back to the pig tailed girl, and thought of the child she reminded him of, and worried behind his mask that she wouldn’t end up like they did. However, seeing the girl’s eyes held a sense of loss Swallowtail himself knew rather well, he wondered why a child associated with Light, had such a Darkness within her.

“We’re nearing the Crest of Love everyone.” Wisemon then said, causing everyone to look at the screen he created- as well as making Swallowtail come out of his thoughts and disperse himself while everyone was distracted, and saw the Ring of Love ahead of them: the red ring surrounding an image that showed a rocky valley, and a city with a dark shadow above it. “Brace yourselves for a landing!”

Everyone then did as suggested, keeping close to the floor as the base started shaking again, before it suddenly stopped. Sheena was the first to get up and look outside, and saw that they were in a rather beautiful, and green valley in between a few mountains and cliffs. Wisemon then used his powers to pull up a map of the Ring of Love, which looked more like a regular map depicting a continent, or part of one, and while Cap and Tony noted that it sort of resembled France with a bit of Italy in shape, it was Sheena who immediately pulled out her Nav-Bot from her bag, and turned it on to see if it could better track the Avengers that were there within the ring.

“Okay, it seems that one is in that city north of the base,” Sheena said, comparing the readings to Wisemon’s map, “while another is… heading right for us.”

“Perhaps we should go out and meet them?” Cap suggested, while Beezlemon shook his head.

“No, we send scouts out first Steve.” said the Resistance Leader, “Learn what the current state of the Ring is, and how much Security there is in the enemy’s base of operations. In this case, the Capital of the Ring of Love, Rosae Amore.”

Cap nodded, realizing that Beezlemon did have a point, while Sheena spoke up again, looking pretty panicked.

“Uh, everyone? Remember when I said that an Avenger is heading right for us?” she said, looking out the window “I mean it. In fact, that Avenger seems to be on that very, very big blue bug heading towards us, so we should get out of the way. Now!”

Everyone then immediately scattered, as the bug Sheena mentioned crashed through the window and hit the floor, the creature apparently being blind since it’s entire head was covered in some sort of horned, metal helmet. Since the digimon was also starting to break apart, it was obvious it was most likely fatally wounded. On the thing’s back however, was an unconscious green skinned girl with blue armor and fins on the side of her head. As something unseen seemed to lift the girl up, jump off the larger digimon’s back just as it turned into a digi-egg, and landed on the floor and making a crash, Tony and Cap just knew who had just arrived.

With the mysterious girl safely on the ground, Ant-Man then shifted back to his normal size, and Scott Lang took off his helmet and smiled at his fellow Avengers, and everyone else in the Resistance.

“Sorry about the window, but Kabuterimon was kind of using everything he had left just to get us here.” he said, ”Also, we have some catching up to do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this chapter, we meet Swallowtail the Atoner and also Ant-Man, but mainly Swallowtail.
> 
> Who is he? Well, I can't spoil that right away, but I will say he's someone from the TV show. As for why he says Megan seems like someone he knows, or who he's referring? That's also a secret.
> 
> Or well, I could just be messing with y'all. But yeah, remember those butterflies Tony saw at the end of previous arc? I'm pretty sure I said they were important, right?
> 
> Also, the bit with Megan being a "Child of Light" but also having a darkness in her? That's my attempt to make her well, not a complete Kari Clone. In fact, in stuff relating to Megan that's coming up? Er... Megan's become the halfway point between Kari, and Jeri/Juri from Tamers from my point of view. Luckily, there's no D-Reaper in this fic's verse, so Megan is safe from mind raping evil pink slime.


	3. Catching up with Ant-Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ant-Man well, catches up with Steve and Tony.

Scott Lang, also known as Ant-Man was in the Base Library with Tony Stark and Steve Rogers. After he had crashed a giant bug digimon into the throne room, which was now currently going through repairs, the first things that were done were dropping Ranamon off at the Infirmary to see if Valkyrimon could do anything to help her, and then Wisemon giving a tour.

Of course, now that he had some time free, Ant-Man had decided to spend time with and catch up with the other Avengers.

“So, is Hulk around here too?” was the first question asked, with Tony and Steve shaking their heads.

“Sorry, it’s just you, me, and Tony when it comes to the Avengers, so far.” Steve then said, noting that the newest Avenger hadn’t mentioned Thor or Hawkeye.

“Damn, was really hoping he was.” Scott said, “So, what about Diamondback? Don’t think I ever saw her before.”

“She’s a former villain turned hero.” Tony said, “And as hot as she is, she’s also married- unfortunately for me, despite being thought dead for the past ten years back on Earth, when in reality, she’s been stuck here. She’s also the mother of the pink haired girl, Sheena.”

“So, she knows more than any of us about this place.” Scott stated, feeling a mix of relief, fear, and a bit of surprise.

“Pretty much, yeah.” Tony said, causing Steve to try his best not to roll his eyes.

“Okay…. so what about the kids?” Scott then asked, “I’ve noticed that the locals seem pretty excited about them.”

“That’s because apparently, they were supposed to come and save this world and help the Resistance battle for the Digital World’s freedom.” Steve said, “I’ve been with them the longest since our arrival, so I’ve seen what they can do.”

“Wait a minute.” Scott then said, “You mean to tell me those kids are putting themselves in danger, in a war!? Steve, didn’t you try and stop them? Oh man, their parents must be so worried about them right now, I know I would be in their shoes.”

“I did try to argue against it.” Steve then said, “However… they insisted on helping, so I had to join them and make sure they didn’t get into too much trouble. However, Tony didn’t seem to even question it when we rescued him.”

“Hey, let’s see how you are after being used as a mirrored maniac’s guineapig!” Tony said, “Besides, I didn’t start worrying until Mercurymon challenged Sheena… kid’s got a mean right hook by the way. Even before I gave her some power gauntlets.”

“Tony, did you let yourself get punched by a thirteen year old girl?” Scott asked, causing the Golden Avenger to grumble. “Oh my god, you did.”

“I was in a bad place, okay?” Tony said “You’d be too if you had to go through what Dr. Spectre tried to do before nearly destroying Vegas, but instead of your guilt taking the shape of your greatest failure, it instead takes on your face!”

“So… did this Mercurymon guy make you go through the Ultron/Arsenal thing again, or did he manage to do much worse?” Scott asked, only for Tony to brush him off.

“So, why are you so worried about the kids?” Tony then asked, causing Scott Lang to look a lot more worried.

“Because I’m a dad.” he said and surprised his teammates in the process, “I have a daughter, Cassie. While I was in jail for a little while, my wife left me, took custody of our girl, and wouldn’t let me see her until I used the Ant-man gear Hank Pym made to save Cassie when she needed a heart transplant. She’s about eight years old now and I love her like there’s no tomorrow, but if she was stuck here, in constant danger? I know I’d be worried if I didn’t know she was safe while I was on earth and unable to help her.”

Steve and Tony were quiet, knowing full well that he had a point, and then Ant-Man said something else.

“I just wish we had some sort of warning that this was even going to happen!” he said, causing Tony to remember what Jarvis picked up the night before they were sucked into another world. Steve, seeing Tony’s uneasy expression as he realized it, frowned as the super soldier realized that once again, Tony had been keeping secrets.

“Tony…” Cap then said, causing the currently armorless hero to groan.

“So Jarvis picked up eight random signals back on earth!” Tony said, “I didn’t tell you since it didn’t seem like Ultron was making a surprise comeback, so I thought it wasn’t important at the time!”

“You still could have told us about it anyway, then maybe we could have been better prepared for what happened.” Cap said, causing Tony to roll his eyes.

“Prepare for what? I mean, how was I supposed to know that eight random signals would lead to a portal opening up and bringing in nine kids? That doesn’t even seem like a possibility even after everything we’ve faced already!” Tony said, “Not to mention getting my armor stolen, being used as a guinea pig and literally getting my hope drained out of me to the point where I’m just a near-mindless zombie, and when I do snap out of it, realize that this place is just insane! I mean, meat grows on plants, creatures are made of living data, and yet still have concepts such as devils, angels, and mystical creatures! Not to mention it doesn’t seem to follow everything we know about science back on Earth!”

“Yeah, I noticed that.” Ant-Man said, “In fact, Pym Particles, when applied to digimon not only shrinks them, but also makes them look pixelated, like an old videogame. Also, I found that the smallest objects in this universe aren’t atoms, molecules or quarks, but pixels and bytes.”

“Since this place is called the ‘Digital World,’ then it would make sense that it might be like the inside of a computer. Wouldn’t be surprised if this place first started way back in 1939.” Steve said, “So, with all the programs, data, and files we created back on Earth, may have somehow affected this place’s development.”

“Wow Cap, didn’t think you knew what a computer was.” Tony then said with a smirk.

“I may be old Tony,” Cap then said, “But we did have the early beginnings of actual modern computers, and besides, I do try and learn about modern times when I can.”

“So Scott,” Tony said, “Just… how did you know where to find us?”

“Er… about that…” Scott said, “I actually kind of didn’t. In fact, this is the second Ring I traveled to since escaping the Ring of Purity with Ranamon. I was almost captured by Dianamon- the one in charge, and I escaped using Pym Particles, and found Ranamon by a lake, a bit injured. I helped her out, and she ended up becoming my guide, even if she can’t remember much about her old home, the Ring of Sincerity.”

“So, what Ring did you two end up at first?” Cap asked.

“The Ring of Kindness, currently ruled by Ceresmon.” Ant-Man then said, “Gigantic digimon made of stone and earth, and yet is able to fly around, so I’ve only seen her underside. Ranamon and I found Hawkeye though, but well… something was wrong with him.”

“How so?” Tony asked, both him and Cap looking worried.

“Clint tried to shoot me, afraid I was just a fake created by Ceresmon to capture him. I had to bring up something from before either of us were Avengers to convince him, and no, I’m not saying what it is, since well, it’s just between the two of us and I’d really like to keep it that way.”

“Fair enough.” Cap said, Tony starting to object that Ant-Man got to keep secrets when he couldn’t, but the super soldier managed to keep him from complaining, “Anything else?”

“Yeah, he seemed to have trouble understanding most digimon, only being able to talk to any that looked human and had normal mouths. His guide, Silphymon, explained that Clint couldn’t leave the ring for the sake of the digimon they were protecting, but did offer to lead me and Ranamon to the other side of the Ring, and get us out of there on the next Data Stream.” Scott then said, “So, we took it, and arrived here in the Ring of Love.

“When we arrived, it turned out the place known as the ‘Most Beautiful Ring in the Digital World’ had turned into a practical wasteland, and also heard rumors of the digimon in charge, Lillithmon, having a ‘Blond, handsome human’ as a prisoner. Eventually, Ranamon and I managed to reach a village, but unfortunately, Lillithmon herself was there with her butler, a masked clown named Piedmon. She immediately spotted Ranamon, since I was shrunken down at the time, and did something to knock her out, I think she called it an ‘Evil Sigh.’ Of course, before her minions could take Ranamon away, I decided to attack and stay out of her sight to make sure I didn’t get captured as well.”

“How did you two escape?” Steve then asked, while Tony noticed that Antman had seemingly skimped on the details for his adventure with Hawkeye.

“Well, that was the weird part.” Scott then said, “She ordered Piedmon to ‘Stop this,’ but the clown didn’t even do anything, other than tell her that since ‘I cannot see what exactly is causing your Vilemon to blunder more than usual, I fear I cannot stop whatever it is.’ Lillithmon then got pissed and focused all her attention on her butler, which allowed me to shrink down Ranamon and get us out of there quickly. Later I found Kabuterimon in trouble, and after rescuing him right outside of town, managed to convince him to get us out of there while Lillithmon was busy searching the other side of town for us. We escaped, and the old bug managed to use all his power to fly us to the Valley, while I returned Ranamon to normal size once the village was far enough away. So, when we reached the place, we were all surprised to see the giant turtle appear out of nowhere, and I braced us for impact as Kabuterimon crashed through the window, and for a moment, I was afraid I landed right in the middle of Lillithmon’s forces. So, I was really happy to see you guys instead.”

Cap and Tony looked at each other after Scott finished his tale, one thing on both their minds.

“Scott, what happened while you were with Hawkeye?” Cap then asked.

“Nothing.” Scott then said, “And you shouldn’t worry about it either.”

“So, Lillithmon must have Thor.” Cap then said, despite still being bothered by how quick Ant-man answered him. “We’ll need to tell Beezlemon, so we can start planning a rescue mission.”

~~000~~

Meanwhile, within the palace of the evil Lillithmon, the wicked witch whipped away at Piedmon, berating him for his failure to keep Ranamon from escaping. As usual since he had been forced to work for the evil demon Lord, Piedmon said nothing and bore the pain, having been used to much worse a long time ago. Once she finished, he finally spoke.

“My Queen,” he began and doing well to hide his disgust with the tyrant, “there have been rumors going around the city of Rosae Amore that a shooting star was seen yesterday, and that it seems to have landed in Turtle Valley. I would like to request your permission to investigate, for if the reports about Mercurymon’s fate are true, and that the Resistance has liberated the Ring of Hope, then it would make sense for them to come straight here next, and without using the Data Streams.”

Lillithmon sat on her throne, supporting her head with her hand while her elbow rested on the arm of her throne. She then pursed her lips as she thought about the idea. She finally sat up straight, and gave her butler one cold, dark and angry look.

“Very well.” she said as she then gave a smile, “Go to Turtle valley with a group of Vilemon, and if you find the resistance, you are not only to capture and bring me any female digimon that might threaten my status as ‘Fairest in the Ring,’ but also Beezlemon, if you are to come across him as well.”

Piedmon showed no expression on his face, feeling the black ring on his arm tighten as his body was forced to kneel before his wicked mistress. He then smiled, mentally cursing the wretched device that forced him to follow her commands and spoke.

“As you wish, my Queen.” he said, before standing up and leaving the throne room, that smile still on his face. Once the door to the hall closed behind him, he frowned and walked towards his chambers to pack his keychain collection, in case they may come in handy for the expedition.

“Lillithmon,” he said quietly to himself as he walked, “If the rumors are true- and I do not doubt they are, then the Resistance is here, and I know they will free the Ring of Love with the help of the Digital Knights. Of course, if I find a way to remove this damn black ring and become free of your power while I am investigating, then I will make sure that your reign painfully comes to an end and you shall see what I am truly capable of. A digimon that has known no love nor has been shown it for his whole life can become quite dangerous when they taste what true love is like, especially after someone like you comes and destroys their happy ending.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. Scott's a dad, and I went with the comic version of why he had the suit. Mainly because this was before I got to see movie, and I also kind of prefer the comic version to the movie version. I'll admit, I LOVED the movie, but well... since this version of the Avengers Assemble universe is drawing from the comics in the main Marvel universe, I felt I had to use the heart transplant thing. 
> 
> Also, the bit where Scott seems to avoid talking about Hawkeye and other things in the Ring of Kindness, that'll be explained next arc.
> 
> As for the part with Piedmon and Lillithmon? Well, Lillithmon is not only a bitch, but our clown has one hell of a vendetta against her. Also, despite the keychain collection, he is not the Piedmon from Digimon Adventure after surviving the Gate of Destiny he was sucked into. In fact, this Piedmon's origins are going to be very surprising, most likely...


	4. Magic Fight! Percy vs Piedmon!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> During a rather silly encounter with a confused hero, Percy and Sheena sneak off for a bit of scouting. Unfortunately, they meet Lillithmon's butler.

“DEMON LORD! Release the digimon you hold captive, or come out and face me! I will make sure that you will not cause anymore trouble in the Ring of Love, and free my special one from your clutches!” Shouted a voice outside the base, causing Beezlemon, Mervamon, the nine digital knights as well as the three Avengers Tony Stark, Captain America, and Ant-Man to run out to the entrance and see what exactly was causing all that noise. All of them of course, were worried that Lillithmon’s forces had found them before they could even act.

The source of the noise however, turned out that it was a giant digimon covered in white fur, while illogically wearing a fur cape on its back where it also kept a very large morning star. It also (thankfully) had a red loincloth covering his waist, silver rings on all his coal black fingers, leather belts on his arms and two large shields on his shoulders. The beastly warrior also had blue eyes, fangs as large as Tony Stark’s ego, and finally a horned viking helmet that looked kind of tiny on the giant beast’s head.

“Oh boy…” Beezlemon groaned and having a feeling where this was going, “Who are you, and what do you want?”

“I am Vikemon!” cried the beast, before removing his morningstar, “And I am here to release my beloved, as well as the other female digimon you’ve captured for the sake of the Ring of Love, vile Demon Lord!”

“Okay, this seems to be a big misunderstanding here.” Beezlemon said, “I’m not a De-”

“SILENCE VILLAIN AND FACE THE POWER OF MY MORNING STAR, MJOLLNIR!” Vikemon shouted, before swinging his flail. Though the name managed to get the attention of the Avengers present at the scene, they couldn’t react in time as the spiked heads of the giant flail headed straight towards Beezlemon.

Fortunately, the blow never connected as both of the morning star’s heads had been stopped in mid-strike. Opening his eyes, Beezlemon then saw that Valkyrimon had arrived just in time to parry the blow with her blade. Vikemon on the other hand, seemed to recognize the smaller digimon, especially as he gulped and started backing away after he dropped his flail.

“Vikemon, I can’t believe you just tried to kill my boss! I mean, here I am, just doing my job in the resistance, putting my medical degree to use and now I find you just trying to kill the digimon leading it!” Valkyrimon roared while moving towards the larger monster who was now cowering in fear.

“But… But…” Vikemon tried to say, only to be cut off by the ranting medic.

“Don’t you ‘But’ me mister!” she said as she sheathed her sword and threw her hands up into the air, “Just where were you!? I lost track of you during the coup while we were on a date, and I’ve been searching all over for you ever since! Do you have any idea how worried I was when we got separated? I thought you were dead for crying out loud!”

It was then, that everyone realized that Valkyrimon was the one Vikemon had been searching for and that the big beast was now in the dog house. As Tony himself knew full well from past experience, when a girl starts chewing you out, it was best to try and either just take it, or talk your way out of it.

“I swear, I didn’t know Beezlemon was leading the resistance!” Vikemon said, “I’ve been on my own, going from ring to ring looking for you, and well, when I heard that one of the remaining Seven Great Demon Lords was kidnapping female digimon… I was worried you were captured too, Turtledove. So, when I found this place, I thought this was where the demon lord was hiding.”

“Yeah…. the one doing the capturing is Lillithmon, my sister.” Beezlemon said, looking quite annoyed about the mistake, “I’m just leading the digimon that want to stop her and the rest of Plutomon’s Generals.”

Vikemon then got on his hands and knees, and had his head touch the ground as he groveled before both Valkyrimon and Beezlemon.

“Forgive me then Beezlemon,” he said, “I have disgraced myself, and my dear Turtledove over this misunderstanding! If it will help me make amends, I shall serve you and the resistance with gusto!”

“Oh Fluffybear!” Valkyrimon then said, before hugging the giant’s neck. Beezlemon, and everyone else however, could only watch in awkward fascination as the two love birds got all cutesy with each other. In fact, it was so sickeningly sweet that after a few minutes, even the youngest members of the group- Bruce and Megan, were getting a stomach ache.

“Okay, okay, you can join!” Beezlemon then said, “Just please… Don’t keep acting like an over the top couple…”

“Oh thank you sir!” Vikemon then said with a smile, before following the medic into the base.

“Yeah… you’re welcome…” Beezlemon said, before urging everyone back into the base, “Mervamon, I know you won’t like it, but I’m afraid with Lillithmon targeting digimon that look female, and also could be judged as prettier than her- knowing how vain she is, you and the rest of the ladies enlisted in the Resistance will have to stay in the base, along with the girls among the Digi-Knights and Diamondback.

“Beezlemon!” Mervamon then argued, “There is no way I’m going to just sit around and let Lillithmon battle you, we both know I have a score to settle with her!”

“Uh… Beezlemon?” Cap then said speaking up before Beezlemon and Mervamon could really get into a fight, “It seems two of the kids are missing, Sheena and Percy to be specific.”

“What?!” Beezlemon said, realizing things have just gotten a bit worse. “Cap, you and I will look outside, everyone else, see if they’re in the base somewhere!”

Before anyone could even say anything, Beezlemon and Cap headed out into the valley’s wilderness, hoping to quickly find the missing digi-knights.

~~000~~

Percy and Sheena meanwhile, had separately decided to sneak off and explore the area while Valkyrimon was chewing out Vikemon. In fact, after the two had slid down a small slope and saw each other, they had chatted a bit and agreed to work together and keep each other safe alongside their partners as they explored and looked for potential new recruits for the Resistance. In fact, by the time the chastising back at the base had turned into a love fest, the two had managed to get a good distance away from ElDradimon, and now found themselves in a wooded area.

“Wow, I guess the Ring of Love is a bit more temperate than File Island” Sheena said as she buttoned her jacket up, “I mean, sure the place was a tropical paradise after Mercurymon hit the road, but it does feel cooler here, don’t you think Percy?”

“I guess,” Percy said with a shrug, “Cold weather isn’t something that bothers me much.”

“Why’s that?” Sheena said, just as the two discovered a lake.

“Well, it kind of connects to what I was trying to tell you during Tina’s party, I’m-” Percy had started to say, only for him to once more be interrupted by the appearance of a flock of ugly, black furred digimon with red hair on their heads and bat wings on their back. One of them also seemingly had a metal can stuck to his head for some reason. Of course, standing in front of them was a humanoid figure with fiery orange hair that resembled a rocket’s exhaust trail going behind his head, a mask that was half black, and half white with a heart and a scar on the white side, a red coat with spades designed to look similar to skull on the shoulders, and also having some frillyness to it with the white ruffled collar and the white ruffs at the end of his sleeves. Not to mention the fact his jacket was buttoned up with a gold heart and also managed to flare out like a small tutu, as well as wearing green pants with golden eyes down the sides and yellow, pointed boots. On his back, there were two large, blue ribbons flowing from his shoulders, while four swords were sheathed and connected by a small box. The pommel of each blade looked like the four suits for playing cards. Of course, he also seemed to have a pale violet cowl covering his jaw and neck as well.

Once the clown had noticed the children however, he gave a sad smile with his red, painted lips and spoke.

“My apologies children,” he said as he gave a bow while also showing the black ring on his left arm, “I am Piedmon, and while I would normally happily welcome you to the Ring of Love, ‘Queen’ Lillithmon has ordered me to capture any female digimon that may threaten her status. Unfortunately, I fear that may also extend to you as well young Lady. As much as I’d love to ignore this encounter and pretend it never happened, I just know these blabbermouths might expose the truth, so I fear we must battle.”

“Oi, why don’t you just fight me Clown!” Percy said, after he and Sheena evolved their partners Kudamon and Vukumon to their champion forms of Reppamon and Kukumon, “Unless you’re afraid to fight a kid on your own.”

Piedmon simply smiled at the boy and prepared to attack him, only for Percy to move out of the way just in time and run to the other side of the lake.

“Reppamon, stay with Sheena and Kukumon! I’ll take care of Piedmon!” Percy said, while his bladed tailed, faceless fox nodded and attacked the horde of Vilemon with the pink haired girl, and the spike-masked boxer.

Once he and Piedmon were alone however, the clown simply waved his white-gloved hands around and threw a fireball at Percy. Percy however, simply created a shield with his magic, and smirked.

“So you know magic too, aye?” the young punk said with a grin, “Well, have you seen this one?”

Percy then focused as he sent out a beam of light towards Piedmon, enveloping the clown and also turning his red coat, blue before creating an illusion of a green serpent that lunged at the clown.

“Oh-ho! I didn’t think humans could even use sorcery~!” Piedmon said, pulling out a white sheet and dismissing the serpent while also turning his coat back to normal, “I believe this will be quite fun.”

“I’m just full of surprises!” Percy said with a grin, before creating a flock of magpies that swarmed around the clown, which didn’t seem that interesting until the birds started breathing fire. The pierrot however, was at first caught off guard by the attack, before countering by making them disappear, and instead bringing in an icy wind. However, Percy didn’t even flinch as he just withstood the cold and ice and smiled.

“What!?” Piedmon said, “You should be frozen by now!”

“You call that a blizzard?” Percy said flatly, as his skin started turning a pale blue and his eyes turned red, “Here, let me show you what a real blizzard is.” The boy then held up his hands and blasted the off guard clown with a strong blast of ice and snow, causing a pile of the white stuff to form and actually keep Piedmon in place, while still exposing the black ring on his arm. Percy then placed held his watch up, the crest of Love showing on the screen and facing the clownsicle, and smiled.

“Time to purify!” he said, and immediately tapped the crest and sent out a beam of red light straight towards the Black Ring. The Power of Love then surrounded the tragic clown- who thankfully did not scream as Crusadermon had back when Sheena and Jean purified her and disintegrated the accursed ring. Percy then grinned while still blue and red eyed, and was about to say something incredibly witty when Reppamon flew across the lake and hit the clown, breaking him loose and also pinning Piedmon against a tree.

Now worried, Percy then looked to see Sheena call her partner into her D-Watch with a flash of light, before one of the Vilemon knocked her out as they swarmed her. Realizing that Sheena was in serious trouble now, Percy snapped and chilled the air around him as he ran across the lake, freezing it with every step as he raced to try and rescue his friend.

“Sheena!” he cried, seeing that the Vilemon had grabbed her and started to carry her off, and he kept on running towards the flock of evil as they started flying away. When he reached the other side however, the ones that had Sheena in their grasp was about to fly away as with a few others when Percy attacked. However, his battle with Piedmon had also drained him, and while he froze and destroyed a few of the little monsters, one managed to knock him back with a steel pipe before it escaped and followed the ones carrying the unconscious Knight of Hope.

“Sheena! No!” Percy cried again, trying to send one last blast of ice at the vilemon, only for it to miss completely. He roared as he pounded the ground, chunks of ice rising from here he struck, and he began to cry as he realized this was his fault, and that he let Sheena end up becoming Lillithmon’s prisoner when it turned out she couldn’t handle it like he had thought. As his tears hit the ground, more ice appeared and spread across the grass and onto the lake, and it seemed to Percy that there couldn’t have been any chance of this getting worse.

And then, Beezlemon and Captain America showed up.

Both Resistance Leader and Super Soldier had seen the ice blast Percy shot into the air, the pack of Vilemon carrying something away and had headed straight for the lake to investigate. However, neither of them expected to see Percy in the half frozen area, skin blue and eyes glowing red just pounding the ground with his fist, before he turned and noticed them, freezing in shock once he did. Kudamon- having reverted back to Rookie level, scampered across the ice and curled up on Percy’s body, trying his best to comfort the boy as both realized they were in some deep trouble.

“What in the world?” Beezlemon said, his mind filling with hundreds of questions about what had happened to the Knight of Love, before spotting Piedmon get up and Dust himself off. As he had heard reports that the digimon was Lillithmon’s butler, he then flew towards the clown and pointed both cannon and his pistol at Piedmon, ready to fire if he tried to escape. Cap however, moved to Percy, putting a hand on his shoulder and shaking the stunned teen a bit.

“Percy, are you okay?” he asked, getting a nod from the boy, “What happened? Where’s Sheena?”

“What happened was I was an idiot…” he said as his skin turned back to normal, and his red eyes turned back to their usual slate gray, “Sheena’s been captured, and it’s all my fault for focusing too much on fighting Piedmon!”

“What!?” Beezlemon said as he managed to hear what happened, before turning towards Piedmon, “You better tell me what my sister’s up to Piedmon, or else I’ll-”

“Oh don’t ruffle your feathers, Beezlemon,” Piedmon said, holding his hands up, “I’m surrendering. After all, Percy managed to release me from Lillithmon’s service, so I’ll be more than happy to tell you everything I know. In fact, I didn’t want to see the girl captured either but sadly, the Vilemon are more loyal to Lillithmon than I, and I was half frozen, so I couldn’t order them to leave the girl alone even if I wanted to.”

“Right…” Beezlemon said, putting his smaller Berenjena back into its holster and grabbing Piedmon before he carried the clown across the lake and towards Cap and Percy. Upon landing however, it was obvious that he didn’t seem happy about any of this.

“We’re returning to base,” he said coldly, “and you have a lot of explaining to do when we get there Percy.”

~~000~~

Later on, Lillithmon was in her throne room, looking annoyed as usual as she leaned back on her throne. She knew Piedmon should have been back by now, and was even starting to tap the claws of her golden right hand on the her throne’s arm when three Vilemon arrived, bringing in the struggling Sheena Barnes, and the digimon also looking quite battered and bruised.

“Let go of me you damn, dirty demons!” She said, before being forced to kneel before Lillithmon and look she-demon in the eye.

“What, is that?” she said flatly, clearly unamused by the scene before her.

“A human, Queen Lillithmon!” said one of the Vilemon, who had unwillingly traded a fang for a black eye, “In fact, this one’s the Knight of Hope that took down Mercurymon!”

“I see…” Lillithmon said, now somewhat impressed “And where is Piedmon?”

“Defeated your majesty.” said another Vilemon, this one having a can of plumbing glue stuck to his head, “The boy that was with the Knight of Hope defeated him on his own, froze him solid before destroying the Black Ring! In fact, Piedmon might actually be dead by now.”

Before Lillithmon could even respond, the wicked demon lord was blindsided as Sheena spoke up.

“I’m going to be rescued you old witch! Just you wait, the Resistance is going to come and kick your ass when they find out I’m here!” said the girl, glaring at the evil digimon. However, being called ‘old’ had managed to get a reaction as Lillithmon glared back at the girl, and realized that while the human was young, and kind of on the plain side, there was a chance she’d grow older and eventually look better than even Lillithmon.

“Evil Sigh.” Lillithmon then said, before the wicked witch of the Ring released a black smoke from her mouth, which caused Sheena to stop struggling before passing out. “This brat may be useful in the future. Vilemon? Take her to one of the guest rooms and lock her inside. My little spell should keep her from waking up for a while, but I will have to be sure to trap her in crystal before leaving her alone for too long, just in case. After all, we may have just gotten ourselves some bait to lure my dear brother into a trap, and finally capture him.”

“Yes my queen.” The three vilemon said before picking up the sleeping girl and gently carrying her out of the throne room. Once alone, Lillithmon then sighed and leaned back on her throne once again, clearly annoyed by something else.

“I can’t believe Piedmon was defeated. I had the greatest and most dangerous magician in both the Digital World and Witchelny enslaved, and now he’s most likely been turned back into a digi-egg, which means I have to get a new butler.” she said to herself in disgust, “I was just starting to enjoy his company, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, while the Resistance did get an important player on Lillithmon's team... Sheena got captured. 
> 
> Now, why did I decide to let that happen? Well, I felt with Sheena's capture, I could show that not all victories will be without a price, and also, Percy is going to get some development this arc. As will Piedmon. 
> 
> Hell, after I plotted this chapter and wrote it out on tumblr originally... I actually had a lot of fun writing for the clown, and decided he'd stay on as part of the main cast. But yeah, as I said before this isn't the same Piedmon from Digimon Adventure- keychain thing aside. Nor is this Piedmon really Sigma's partner from the V-Tamer manga.
> 
> In fact, Lillithmon's comment about Piedmon's status in both the digital world and Witchelny? That's going to be important later.
> 
> So, why did I make Piedmon of all digimon a good guy? Simple. While I played with the idea of Myotismon being a possible ally (before I kicked that idea out the window) I decided to try again with Piedmon and stick with it because well, why the hell not?
> 
> Speaking of Myotismon... he's going to show up again in this arc... 
> 
> Finally, if you imagine Vikemon sounding like a pro wrestler.... then yeah... that's kind of how he sounds in my head when he's not being chewed out by Valkyrimon.
> 
> Anywho, Next time on Digivengers! Time for Percy to come clean... whether he wants to or not...


	5. Trial and Punisment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy Black and Piedmon are tried by the Resistance for their involvement in the battle that led to Sheena's capture by Lillithmon.

Percy Black was quite grim-faced as he walked down the hall, with Captain America walking next to him. While the Super Soldier had decided to help Percy out during the trial taking place today, the teenager couldn’t help but feel like things were not going to end well. Especially since Beezlemon had seen him in his “Jotun Mode,” and was bound to want answers. However, the fact that he also wanted the other kids, Avengers and the other important members of the Resistance to listen in as well, didn’t really do anything to help matters. Especially since he had to answer for the fact he let Sheena get captured by Lillithmon’s forces, and he knew that he couldn’t talk his way out of this one.

The walk they shared was silent, until they reached the throne room and headed inside. Percy immediately noted that the window Ant-Man had broken had been fully repaired, but that wasn’t as important as the fact that the other seven kids, their partners, LadyDevimon, Angewomon, Mervamon, Vikemon, Valkyrimon, Wisemon, Tony Stark, Ant-Man, Sheena’s mother Diamondback, and Renamon, while none of them seemed to happy about the situation. Piedmon was standing off to the side, his hands in a pair of manacles that had about a foot and a half of chain between them, while Beezlemon sat on his throne, glaring.

With three eyes giving the teen one hell of an angry look, even Percy could admit that he was a bit terrified right now.

“Everyone, I have gathered you all to hear out Percy Black and Piedmon, who were witnesses to and involved in the capture of Sheena Barnes, the Knight of Hope.” Beezlemon said, his tone quite serious about the situation, “Percy Black, you and Sheena snuck off and encountered Piedmon and his minions, battled them, and you were unable to save Sheena from being taken. Is this correct?”

“Yes sir.” Percy said stoically, and also took note of the other angry looks he got from some of those gathered, especially from Diamondback and Esteban.

“Very well then.” Beezlemon said, before beginning the interrogation. “Just what made you think it was a good idea to sneak off?”

“Sheena and I only had the same idea at the same time, and didn’t talk to each other until after the fact.” Percy said, “We figured it would be a good idea to explore, and find digimon that could help the Resistance while also making note of areas where we could launch surprise attacks in case Lillithmon tried storming the base later on.”

“So, you had good intentions,” Cap said, doing his best to help Percy, “However, you could have tried to convince her to return to base, or retreat when you ran into Piedmon and the Vilemon.”

“If we did retreat, then that would have led them to the base and cause more trouble while Piedmon was under Lillithmon’s control.” Percy pointed out, “So, I battled him alone, in order to keep him busy while Sheena, Kukumon, and Reppamon battled the minions, mainly so I could try to break that Black Ring he pointed out to Sheena and I when we met.”

“So then Percy,” Beezlemon then said, “What about how the lake that you and Piedmon were located was half frozen when Captain Rogers and I arrived at the scene? Also, what about the fact that you were blue skinned and red eyed while also producing ice at the time?”

Percy remained silent, as he saw that everyone but Cap and Esteban seemed confused by this. Of course, while he knew that Cap had seen it already, as did Esteban, Percy also didn’t like the smirk the Spaniard had as he watched.

“Percy, please answer him.” Cap said gently, before indicating that Beezlemon was starting to get impatient.

“Fine.” Percy then said, “The ice powers and the magic I used to fight Piedmon came from my Grandfather. The Avengers, and my fellow digi-knights may know him as Loki, a figure from our world who is considered the ‘Norse God of Evil, Lies, Mischief and Chaos.’ Of course, I would have loved to have no one learn that at all, but well, it seems to be difficult to keep secrets in another world. My grandfather however, isn’t human, but a Frost Giant adopted by Odin, the All Father of Asgard. My mum, is Loki’s daughter, and since the frost giant traits didn’t go to her, it skipped all the way to me. Grandfather also taught me magic, so that I could have a way to protect myself when my above average strength, durability, and agility is unable to suffice. As far as I know, I’m the only partial frost giant on Earth.”

“You couldn’t have told us before?!” Tony shouted, while almost everyone else that had originated on Earth and didn’t know beforehand was stunned into silence. Diamondback however, was just confused as she had not really been around when Loki became a well known threat.

“You know, it would have been great to know about this.” Ant-man then said, as both heroes looked annoyed at Percy.

“And how would you have treated me if I did?” Percy asked, but received no answer from them as the two avengers kept silent.

“Percy shared his secret with me after we rescued Tony, and also Bruce and Megan when they saw his trial in the Tunnel of Regrets.” Cap then said, causing Tony and Scott’s jaws to drop as whispers went through the group while the super soldier continued. “I wasn’t too happy about keeping secrets however, Percy convinced me because he was afraid of what would happen if everyone found out.”

“Actually,” said Esteban with a smirk, the Spaniard soon earning everyone’s attention, “I found out about it too, but Percy threatened me to keep quiet about it. So, I knew he was a danger to the Resistance, but he wouldn’t let me tell anyone.”

“Percy, is this true?” Beezlemon asks, causing everyone to look a bit worried.

“Yes, but only because Esteban tried to blackmail me over it.” Percy said, causing the other kids except for Bruce and Megan to glare at Percy, while the adults and digimon kept silent. Esteban however, flinched for a moment, before adjusting his glasses and smirked as he stepped forward from the group.

“Yet, you let Sheena get captured.” he then said, “Considering your grandfather’s reputation, you can’t be trusted Percy. In fact, for all any of us know, you could have betrayed us and just allowed the Vilemon to capture her and only pretended to try and stop them when Beezlemon and Cap drew near.”

“Now that’s a lie and you bloody well know it, Esteban!” Percy shouted, “I already said I battled Piedmon on my own, while Reppamon helped Sheena fight the minions, you bloody dago!”

“You also said that Loki was the Norse God of Lies.” Esteban said, obviously unphased by the outburst before pointing an accusing finger at the British teen, “So, as his grandson, you must have a tendency for a few lies yourself, correct _amigo?_ ”

“You’re out of line Esteban!” Cap shouted, only for Esteban to stand his ground and counter the super soldier.

“Oh am I?” the glasses wearing teen said as he continued to smirk while he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “Captain America, if Percy really cared for his fellow digi-knights, he wouldn’t have let this happen at all. However, since he’s not even fully human and is in fact part frost giant, then he might not even understand things like compassion and goodness in the first place.”

Everyone looked concerned as Percy glared at Esteban, Cap saying nothing as he tried to think of something to counter the argument before he remembered what Percy said about how the teen cared for his family- especially a villain like Loki. Before he could speak though, it was at that moment that Bruce spoke up, the blond boy pushing up his own glasses in the process.

“Esteban, if that was true… then Percy wouldn’t have gotten the Crest of Love, and he’d still be stuck in that mirror within the Tunnel of Regrets.” he said, followed by a rather unexpected person speaking up.

“You know Esteban, your argument about Percy’s humanity being in question could also be applied to you, if you just replaced ‘frost giant’ with ‘Mutant.’ As you yourself happen to be a Mutant, then you’re just a pot calling the kettle black.” said Tina rather calmly while she also inspected her nails, causing the other kids, Beezlemon, and Captain America to stare in surprise, since the girl herself held a disdain for mutants. Realizing that his argument had its flaws pointed out, Esteban quickly decided to shift gears.

“Well, what all has Percy actually done to help us since we got to the digital world? He may have helped in battle, but what about individually? I honestly don’t think he’s even talked to us, or helped us not to worry, or be overwhelmed with fear. Instead, he’s just a smart ass when he speaks, and even back home, he’s pulled more pranks than anything else. In fact, he’s nothing more than a punk.” Esteban said, “And Captain America, if you knew Percy’s secret, why didn’t you try to tell Tony and Ant-man anyway?”

“Esteban has a point,” Tony said, “You chewed me out in the past for keeping secrets, and yet here you are being a hypocrite.”

“Tony, if I wasn’t worried about what would happen if I did, I would have told you and Scott Lang.” Cap said, remembering that there was still another Scott among the kids, “However, I would in the process betray Percy’s trust, and potentially allow him to be targeted by bullies among the kids if either of you told anyone else. You both know how I feel about that sort of behavior, and that I wouldn’t have allowed it to happen, not even to the grandson of one of our enemies back on Earth. Percy is a good kid, and from what he told me? Even Loki- despite his reputation, actually tries to be a good parent, and well, grandparent.”

“Loki’s not the one on trial here!” Diamondback then said, “It’s Percy and Piedmon.”

“Thank you.” Beezlemon then said, before facing the clown and getting back on track. “Piedmon, why did you decide to surrender, and why did you do it so eagerly as Percy removed this ‘Black Ring’, as you claimed had happened?”

The mystical pierrot didn’t answer right away. Instead, he only smiled as he pulled a sketchbook from out of nowhere, and flipped through various illustrations as he told his story.

“Well, it all began when Lillithmon forced her way into the throne room, where I was just entertaining Princess Venusmon with my usual tricks and had hoped to show her a brand new one. Though I tried to fight her off valiantly, she pulled out the Black Ring and snapped it onto my arm before forcing me to stand down and watch as she turned Venusmon into stone.” he began, his illustrations- despite being a little on the cutesy side, still managed to capture the depth and emotions of what they were depicting, as well as who, “Afterward, she turned me from a simple court magician to her personal butler, and while I was in her service, I downright hated how the ring forced me to be unable to go against her orders. However, I discovered a loophole: as most of her orders were specific enough for me to follow as they were stated, the more vague ones allowed me a bit of rebellion. In fact, when Ranamon escaped her clutches, she had simply told me to ‘Stop this’ when I assume the one called ‘Ant-Man’ was making the Vilemon seem as clumsy as ever, instead of something more specific- such as ‘Stop this attacker.’ In my opinion, that was a rather enjoyable day since it allowed me to ensure an escape… even if it later resulted in a beating from Lillithmon at the Palace.”

“Oh, I remember that.” Ant-Man said, “Thanks.”

It was then that the other Scott spoke up, raising his hand as he asked a question.

“So… why do you happen to have a sketchbook with full color illustrations in them on you?” asked the red-headed boy.

“Simple.” Piedmon said, “Whenever I get bored and I happened to have time off- especially on those rare occasions Lillithmon can’t think of anything for me to do, I just draw. In fact, before becoming Venusmon’s court magician, I traveled around the rings and moonlighted as an illustrator for storybooks read by young digimon while also performing my magic act.”

“Nothing wrong with that.” Cap said, being an artist himself in his own downtime.

“Right…” Beezlemon said, grumbling a bit as he had not exactly had any story books as a young digimon once Barbamon forced him under his wing, “So Piedmon, why did you betray Lillithmon, instead of trying to escape with the Vilemon once the Black Ring was destroyed?”

“Simple Beezlemon.” Piedmon began before telling the resistance leader quite bluntly, “You’re sister is a vain, abusive, psychotic witch who only cares about being the most beautiful digimon there is. Not only does she whine when things do not go her way, she won’t stop pining for her ‘dear brother Beezlemon’ to return her romantic feelings towards him.”

While everyone else seemed a bit disturbed about the description, Astamon however groaned and muttered something under his breath that was not only indistinguishable, but most likely very, very unsafe for children under 18 to repeat as well. As the mobster digimon also seemed rather embarrassed by the description Piedmon gave, it was understandable after Beezlemon sighed, slumped a bit on his throne and spoke.

“Dear God she’s gotten worse.” Beezlemon said, causing everyone gathered- except Astamon, to stare at him in shock.

“Beezlemon,” Tony then said, “You seem to have a messed up family.”

“You have no idea…” Beezlemon said, “In any event, Piedmon, you are to be let go, and join the Resistance. However, you are also to be watched carefully until we can determine that this is not a trap.”

“I understand.” Piedmon said, giving a bow before snapping his fingers and dismissing his bonds, “Considering that Lillithmon’s final order to me was- in case I found the Resistance, to capture any female digimon I came across as well as you, combined with the fact that after the Black Ring that compelled me to follow her orders was destroyed and I surrendered immediately, suspicion may just be warranted. While I am no longer obligated to follow her orders, I still however, owe Percy my freedom. Unfortunately, I did not expect the Vilemon to overwhelm the girl, or the two digimon fighting along side her.”

“Yeah… Vilemon are surprisingly weak and stupid.” Beezlemon said, knowing from past experience as Astamon nodded in agreement. “I mean, it’s not like Lillithmon has been enhancing them or something, so how could Sheena and her partner lose even with Kudamon’s help?”

“I can explain that.” said the bullet weasel in question, “While we battled the horde, I kept smelling something incredibly off, and I, Kukumon, and even Sheena had trouble concentrating… and I managed to get smacked across the lake by one of them that had a steel pipe.”

“Care to explain that?” Beezlemon asked Piedmon, who then groaned as he placed a hand over his mask.

“Before leaving the palace, two of the Vilemon were fixing the plumbing for Lillithmon’s jacuzzi.” said the clown in annoyance, “ I assume they decided to follow myself and the initial troop because they were having issues with the broken pipe, and also got distracted after one of them got the can of plumbing glue stuck to his head. I assume the smell Kudamon picked up came from the fumes, and it must have affected all of them.”

After hearing the reason, no one said anything, and an awkward silence filled the air, occasionally broken by an awkward cough. In fact, the silence wasn’t even fully broken until Tony spoke up.

“Lillithmon has a jacuzzi?”

“Yes.” Piedmon said, “In fact, it was the only good thing about her tyranny so far.”

“Oi! Can we get back on track here?” Percy said, “This might not have been my fault like I thought it was- considering the new info, but I still failed to save Sheena, so I should go rescue her and make up for it!”

“No way.” Beezlemon said, “You’re punishment is to stay in the base with the girls on lock down until further notice.”

“But that’s not fair!” Percy snapped, “If I’m stuck here, then how can I even try to redeem myself if you don’t give me a chance?”

Beezlemon flinched, and thought about how Percy did have a point and started to reconsider the punishment, until Esteban spoke up.

“Oh please,” said the Spaniard, “You only want to save Sheena to get out of trouble and save your own hide.”

“You’re wrong!” Percy shouted, “I want to save her because I _love_ Sheena!”

Almost all of the other kids gasped while the adults and the older digimon simply groaned about the apparent soap opera plot point. Piedmon however, was simply munching on some popcorn he magically brought in as he watched events unfold and Percy started to explain.

“I mean, back home I enjoyed talking to her when I can and I find her personality and her optimism to be well, brilliant. In fact, I actually cared enough about her that when I snogged her back in the Ring of Hope, I cast a protection spell on her to keep Mercurymon from sucking away what made her, well, her. In fact, i wouldn’t have let her get captured at all, if I didn’t think it’d happen in the first place. Sheena’s not the type to give up easily.”

“Liar!” Esteban called out, “If you truly loved her, you would have let her escape rather than fight at all! That’s what I would have done anyway.”

Percy however, started turning blue again, glaring at Esteban as he spoke. “Sheena would never run if she thought she had a chance.”

“And yet, you still let her get captured.” Esteban said, causing Percy to nearly lunge at the Spaniard had Captain America not stopped the icy teen.

“Stand down Percy.” he said, causing the boy to stop and turn back to normal. Piedmon however, quietly watched the scene unfold, and noted that Percy’s current attitude reminded the clown of himself after Lillithmon turned Venusmon into stone, and what he himself would have done had he not been held back by the black ring’s influence.

However, Esteban then spoke again, making a closing argument in front of everyone.

“As you can see,” he said, adjusting his glasses, “Percy seems to be unable to control his frost giant side and could become a major threat to the Resistance’s efforts. I insist that Beezlemon’s sentence of Percy staying in the base goes as planned and he not leave until Sheena’s rescued by some actual heroes and not some reckless delinquent who just can’t come clean about himself from the start.”

In the end, the decision was handled with a vote. Though Cap, Tina, Astamon, the Winters twins, Angewomon, Bruce, Megan, and Beezlemon voted in Percy’s favor, they were outnumbered by Esteban, Ryudamon, Tony, and most of the others voting for his punishment. However, the only ones that didn’t vote were Tandy and Candlemon, who believed that just because Percy didn’t tell anyone his secret at the beginning and that things beyond his control had happened, they shouldn’t be putting him on trial at all and should have just trusted him in the first place.

“I regret to say,” Beezlemon then said, once the voting had concluded, “That Percy is to stay in the Base with the girl digital knights and the female digimon on Lockdown, until Sheena is rescued.”

Percy said nothing at first, only glaring at the smug Esteban for a moment before speaking directly to the Spanish boy, and also rival for Sheena’s heart.

“I’ll remember this.” he said darkly, allowing everyone present to hear him and left the throne room. Even though Cap called after the boy, he ignored the super soldier and simply focused on going back to his room.

Percy Black, had plans to make.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, looks like Esteban shows off his inner Edgeworth here, doesn't he? Or at least, how Edgeworth acted in the first Ace Attorney game...
> 
> Also, for those wondering what Dago means: Percy is just calling Esteban a Spaniard. That's it.
> 
> As for the soap opera moment near the end? Yeah... not the last time that joke will pop up. In fact, I feel like it's turned into a running gag of sorts.
> 
> Now, Piedmon's sketchbook is of course, another digimon adventure reference, where when Piedmon introduced himself to the heroes, he had these little drawings that he showed to the digidestined before the big reveal. The fact he illustrates digital children's books in the fic's verse or doodles in his down time kind of adds a bit of character to him. In fact, this chapter I think adds some characterization to Esteban, Tandy and Percy as well. Also a bit towards Tina since she's started becoming less of a bitch.
> 
> As for Esteban's dickishness this chapter? Yeah... that's going to cause problems for him later on, and will be explored later. Not in this arc however, but in the next one.
> 
> Next time on Digivengers: Repercussions.


	6. Tension

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of Percy's trial is explored, and while things look their darkest, there may just be a light after all...

Breakfast, normally the most important meal of the day and the first thing most people have after waking up. However, with recent events the dining hall was quieter than normal this morning, and Percy Black was alone with Kudamon eating some pancakes.

Of course, then he gained a surprise as Tina Starling as well as Scott and Jean Winters sat down with their partners. They said at first, until after a few minutes Percy finally broke the silence.

“Listen… thanks for having my back yesterday.” he said, “Though, I really didn’t expect you to poke holes in Esteban’s logic there, Tina.”

“While I may have admitted that I hate mutants in the past,” the black haired girl then said while examining her nails, “at least I have a reason for it. Besides, I actually hated Esteban using your grandfather as a way to show you can’t be your own person even more. Well, considering my own issues regarding that.”

“Well, there’s also da fact dat ‘Bonbon’ might not be thinking with the right head,” Astamon said, “I mean, the whole thing was over Pinky getting captured, and he’s in love with her too.”

“You have a point, Astamon.” Percy then said, while Kudamon nibbled on a pancake, “However, I get the feeling that everyone that sided with Esteban just hates me now.”

“Well, considering that Tony and Ant-man both dealt with Loki while working alongside Thor, they may just be wary of you and also kind of not too happy that Cap kept your secret until yesterday.” Scott said, surprising all but his sister- if Jean could even be surprised anyway, “Not to mention that Sheena’s mom is worried about her, and the digimon that sided with Esteban don’t know that much about Earth in the first place.”

“That does make sense.” Kudamon then said, before using a corner of napkin to wipe some syrup from his face. With the difference in size between the napkin and the little bullet weasel, it was actually kind of adorable to see Kudamon act with excellent table manners.

“Also, love triangles like what you and Esteban got over Sheena are normal to have heads butted against each other. It’s like, a reversal of the Betty and Veronica triangle genderwise, and that revolves around trying to get the attention of the triangle’s ‘point,’ in this case Sheena.” Scott then continued, causing both Tina and Percy to look even more surprised along with their digimon, “In fact, Esteban may believe that you not being involved in her rescue while he goes in to do it himself will just help her affections fall into his favor over yours since he expects her to be hurt while believing that you didn’t try or even want to save her.”

“You know something Scott?” Percy then said, “You’re not as dumb as I thought you were. In fact, you seem to be pretty good at understanding relationships.”

“I like to read romance novels.” Scott then said with a smile, “Also, I like real romance movies, not anything with a forced romantic subplot. The chemistry has to be there for it to actually work, you know? If love just happens out of nowhere, it kind of gets annoying.”

“Scott, is the relationship expert.” Jean said stoically, while Tina just looked in awe at the red headed boy. In fact, Scott’s partner, White PawnChessmon even did a bit of cheering and chanted the last two words of Jean’s statement while the red headed boy just calmly ate his breakfast. Astamon silently applauded Scott’s courage to admitting he even liked something that might not be considered manly, and thought that perhaps Jean might have something she enjoyed as well. Most likely horror, since the demonic mobster who creeped out the rest of the digimon in the base found the red headed girl to be eerie enough to enjoy it.

Tina however, soon found herself blushing at Scott’s confession, and noticed that even though they were friends for five years, he was kind of cute with how loyal he had been towards her. In fact, she was about to ask him what his favorite novel was but unfortunately, something came up to kill the moment.

Specifically, Esteban Montoya, followed by his partner Ryudamon.

“You know,” the young Spaniard said with a smirk, “you seven shouldn’t be sitting with a potential monster. I mean, even Kudamon- a holy digimon if I’m correct, will most likely lose his ring once Percy shows his true colors.”

While everyone at the table wanted to smack Esteban for his smug comment, it was once again Scott Winters who decided to show his courage. In fact, the boy was starting to glow like he did during the trial for his sun-like crest when he stood up and moved to face Esteban directly, while their digimon seemed ready to fight with White PawnChessmon nervously pointing his spear towards Ryudamon, who growled in response.

“You know Esteban, you shouldn’t treat Percy like a monster. Like it or not, he’s still a digital knight like you and me, and also a _person._ ” Scott said, causing Tina to blush a bit more than she had been before Esteban walked up to the table, “So back off it dude, and leave the guy alone already.”

Esteban however, simply smirked as he noticed Tina look away, and assumed Scott was embarrassing her. Looking straight into Scott’s green eyes with his own brown ones, the Spaniard spoke.

“Scott, you seem to fail to realize that you’re being played for a fool again. First by Tina for the past five years, and now Percy as well.”

Those words actually caused Scott to glow brighter than before, causing Jean to actually express surprise as the Knight of Courage spoke.

“Just because you have the Crest of Knowledge, that doesn’t give you the right to act like a smart ass jerk. You don’t seem to know _shit_ about people and their motivations. Instead, you just judge based on what you already know about them. In fact, the way you just judge people by their beliefs or relatives like you do to Percy? You’re no better than the very people who believe that Mutants aren’t human either.”

“Oh, so I’m no better than Tina?” Esteban said, causing the girl in question to stand up and slam her hands on the table.

“At least I’ve been trying to make an effort to get better about that!” she said, “I know I’ve been a bully in the past because of what I was raised to believe- among other things, but Esteban? You’re just being a mini-Magneto with Electricity instead of Magnetism, all because of a crush that _you’re_ afraid will end badly for you if Percy gets the girl.”

“That’s not true!” Esteban said before glaring at Percy, who also happened to be in the middle of drinking some orange juice while ignoring the scene when his attention was grabbed again, “In fact, I will save Sheena from Lillithmon before you, Percy Black, and you will get what you deserve for putting her in danger in the first place!”

Despite the fact Esteban was now pointing dramatically at Percy once again, the grandson of Loki simply glanced at Esteban before he gulped down the rest of his drink, set down the glass and overall, looked unimpressed by the Spaniard’s bravado. While he himself had seen better- even from his own grandfather, the white haired punk simply swiped a finger over the blue streak in his hair, before leaning forward, setting an arm on the table and speaking.

“So then, why do you love Sheena?” Percy then asked, causing his romantic rival to flinch and turn away.

“I don’t have to answer to you, _Congelació._ ” Esteban said, before he and Ryudamon walked away. Percy however simply smirked and went back to finish off his breakfast.

“Why did you ask him that?” Tina then asked, only for Percy to not answer due to his mouth being full, and Jean having to answer in his place.

“Pierce his defenses.” said the red headed girl, which then confused Tina’s partner, Astamon.

“What does dat mean?”

“He wanted Esteban to get his head out of his ass and question himself.” Scott then explained, causing the demonic mobster to pound a fist on the palm of his other hand and nod to show he understood it now.

Percy however, said nothing and finished his meal.

~~000~~

Later on in the library, Esteban was testing his translator program on a book about the Ring of Love, hoping to get information he could actually read about the area, and also see if it held clues on beating Lillithmon. As Ryudamon yawned and curled up next to the table, Bruce Davidson, FanBeemon, Megan Foster and Dorumon walked in. While the two youngest members of the kids had hoped to hear a story from Ophanimon- who had taken roost in the library in place of Seraphimon, their hopeful faces changed to disappointed ones when they saw Esteban.

“Meanie.” Megan said, getting the teen’s attention, who looked confused for a moment before Bruce spoke up.

“That wasn’t a very nice thing you did to Percy.” he said quietly, “All he wanted to do was help out and make up for his mistake.”

“All I was doing was making sure Percy could be watched carefully, and also trying to protect the rest of us.” Esteban argued, “I mean, he’s the grandson of a villain,there’s no telling what he could do to us once he has a chance to strike! He could probably become a killer at any moment!”

Suddenly, the library seemed much quieter than normal, as well as a little colder as the two children looked shocked at the words, especially Megan. In fact, it seemed to trigger something as her fearful expression vanished as she lowered her head enough for her bangs to cover her eyes, before she walked over to the table. Bruce then seemed more afraid as he backed away a bit while the girl said nothing as she pulled out a chair and climbed up to stand on it, before facing the confused Esteban and delivering a very fierce slap.

“Take it back.” Megan then said a bit darkly, looking Esteban in the eye as she glared, causing FanBeemon to join his partner as this new side to the normally cheerful girl scared him. As for Megan’s digimon partner, he could only stare in shock as his jaw hung open at the slap..

“ _Que?_ ” Esteban said in confusion. However, this earned him another slap to the face, this time knocking his glasses onto the table.

“I said, take it back.” Megan then said, “Take back what you said about Percy. Now.”

“Why should I?” Esteban asked, and getting a few more slaps from the angry nine year old girl, who was now causing her own partner to join Bruce and FanBeemon in their little huddle.

Even Dorumon was afraid.

“Because I saw a killer once,” Megan then said quietly, “and Percy is not going to end up like that! He may seem like a meanie, but he does care, and a killer never, ever cares, and I never, ever, ever want to see another killer again! I never want to see anymore blood, or guts, or nasty icky stuff again! And I don’t want anyone to end up like Daddy!”

Esteban however, was just shocked by the words, watching in silence as the girl jumped down from the chair and started crying, her fluffy purple partner doing its best to calm the girl down after he sensed it was safe to even get close to her now. Ryudamon, who had watched the whole scene was now unsure what to think of his partner- who he had felt the need to be always loyal to.

Esteban’s mind had the girl’s words echo with in it, before it started putting the pieces together about why she acted like that. Once realization crossed his face, he tried to speak but found no words could come out of his mouth as he also realized that he may have gone too far. By the time Bruce joined in, trying to help cheer up his friend with FanBeemon’s help, he finally willed himself to speak.

“I…I’m sorry.” he said, a near whisper as his voice filled with regret, “Megan, I didn’t know, I didn’t mean to-”

“If you’re really sorry,” Megan then snapped, “then you should apologize to Percy too! He cares about Sheena and just wants to help, but you acted like a big mean idiot to him instead of actually doing something to try and help him!”

The knight of knowledge physically felt pain from more than just the previous slaps he endured after hearing the girl’s words. He realized that she was right and that he had been a jerk and instead of trying to protect everyone like he thought he had been doing, he had in fact, just been acting out of jealousy and rage over Sheena’s capture. As he watched Bruce, Megan, and their digimon leave, his mind then wandered back to Percy’s question from earlier.

_So then, why do you love Sheena?_

Esteban tried to think. He admitted he at first found the girl to be a rival he couldn’t stand since they first met, but somehow developed a crush on her he both accepted and denied. That paradoxical thought always confused him, since no matter what happened, that girl seemed to remain cheerful and optimistic. Hell, even when Sheena had been bullied in the few years they knew each other, he couldn’t think of anything that got her down.

But all that, was just all he’d seen from afar. Before they arrived in the digital world, Esteban realized that he never even talked to Sheena, outside of taunting her during their rivalry, and helping her up once when she tripped before entering their building on campus back on earth. Sure, he was also crushing on Tina at the time, but for some reason he was starting to have feelings for the other girl again ever since she called him by his name during breakfast. The Spanish genius’s heart was conflicted once again, and he started to wonder if he even did love Sheena, or actually liked Tina at all. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, he didn’t really know.

He hated not knowing.

~~000~~

Percy Black meanwhile, was just walking to his room with Kudamon taking a small nap on his shoulders. All he wanted to do right now after a sparring session with Scott Winters, was to go back to his room and try and figure out a way to get out of his current punishment.

Unfortunately, as he saw three Avengers walking in silence and heading his way, it seemed that it wouldn’t be easy. From what he heard them say before they stopped and noticed him, was that they had just visited Ranamon- who was still asleep in the infirmary, and hadn’t even woken up yet from what he could gather. Unfortunately, as Tony and Ant-man looked at him Percy didn’t even look worried about what was about to happen, and didn’t even flinch as Tony was the first to speak up.

“You know, you shouldn’t have developed _any powers_ from Loki.” said the presently former armored hero.

“Tony, just leave the kid alone.” Cap said, only for Tony to start arguing.

“Steve, he’s Loki’s grandson, remember? I mean, he might as well be just like his grandfather with ice powers _and_ Loki’s so-called magic.”

“You really shouldn’t talk Cap,” said Ant-man, “I mean, you kind of didn’t tell us beforehand, remember? Besides, he did act a bit like a villain as he left yesterday, what with the whole ‘I’ll remember this’ line and everything. ”

“And how both of you are acting right now is exactly why I didn’t tell you in the first place.” Cap said, “He’s only a kid, and he had to grow up worrying about what would happen if people found out.”

The three heroes then started arguing further, starting to ignore Percy’s presence for the next few minutes as the teen listened in, and noted that they were talking about him like he wasn’t even there. In fact, their arguing had even woken up Kudamon, who sighed as the three heroes acted a bit childish at the moment. Of course, when it got to the point that the argument turned to Loki being evil all the time and must have never had anything good about him at all, Percy decided that enough was enough.

“Will all three of you wankers just shut the bloody hell up!” he shouted, causing the three heroes to stop and stare at the teen, before Cap cleared his throat and looked a bit embarrassed as he let Percy speak. “Thank you. Now then, I know you three are friends with Thor, but didn’t he even tell you _anything?_ I mean seriously, the only reasons Loki turned evil at was because Odin not only played favorites while Gramps was growing up, but also because Odin treated him like a prick just because a stupid prophecy everyone in Asgard heard said he’d become one! And believe it or not, despite that treatment, Granddad Loki just so happens to be pretty decent to his kids, and also to me. Hell, ever since I got here, he’s tried to contact me in my dreams so we can chat, and he’s promised to try and actually turn good back on Earth all just to avert bloody Ragnarok!”

All three heroes were silent, partially stunned by Percy’s coarse language, and also surprised that he still had contact with his grandfather. Of course, the idea of Loki being a father was still unnerving to both Tony and Scott Lang, while Cap had managed to spend enough time with Percy to get a good idea about it. Of course, Tony then turned towards Cap, an unhappy look back on his face.

“Did you know about the dream-chats too?” he said, causing Cap to start trying to explain he didn’t. However, Tony didn’t seem to listen, and attempted to restart the argument from before. Thankfully, a bit of ice that Percy conjured up and then used to hit the currently useless hero in the arm stopped him.

“I never told him, cause that would have just caused more trouble for me,” Percy said, “and if you and Ant-man are going to trust me even less than before because of me being a potential spy, then why should I care what either of you think? You two, as far as I can tell, are just going by past encounters with my granddad, rather than experience with me personally, just like Esteban. In fact, if what Cap told me about Thor actually still caring for my grandfather, even after everything he’s done is true? Then I hope Thor at least, doesn’t treat me like some mini-Loki that needs to be thrown in jail before I get a chance to even show who the bloody hell I am.”

Tony and Ant-man then remembered the incident back in Vegas, where Doctor Spectrum used his powers to force Thor to face his guilt about his brother, and how all three of the heroes that were present had heard how much the Asgardian hero still cared for him. The two then realized they were being complete tools as they watched Percy walked away, and mentally kicked themselves for be swayed by Esteban yesterday.

Steve Rogers however, simply smiled as he watched Percy head to his room, feeling proud that the kid had stood up for himself.

~~000~~

When Percy finally entered his room, he raised an eyebrow as he saw he had company. To be specific, a certain clown that he had recently released from Lillithmon’s service. As Piedmon was setting up a collection of key chains resembling various digimon on top of a newly added dresser and frowning as if they weren’t quite right yet, Percy also noticed the spare bed in his room and other new furniture and had a good guess what was up, but still decided to ask and make sure.

“Piedmon, aren’t you supposed to be watched right now?” he asked, while Kudamon hopped off of Percy’s neck and made his way to their bed before deciding to watch events unfold.

“Well, I may have asked Beezlemon to let the ‘Knight of Love’ be my ‘Watch Dobermon,’ so since you’ve finally arrived, I believe I am indeed, being watched.” Piedmon said, turning around and giving a smile and a bow towards Percy, who then immediately closed the door, “In fact, I was quite impressed by your resolve to rescue Sheena, that I might so happen to have an idea.”

“You realize that if we get caught, we’re screwed, right?” Percy asked with a smirk, “I mean, I am supposed to be keeping an eye on you, Piedmon. And I can’t leave the base either.”

“Well, since it’s for someone you care about being rescued, it shouldn’t matter. Besides, if I join you, then you could just say you were keeping an eye on me while I just so happened to decide to sneak out, and you chose to follow me to make sure that I wasn’t up to anything in order to protect the resistance.” Piedmon said, and the two magic users then gave each other a sly look as they knew exactly what they were about to do.

“You have a point.” Percy said, before taking off his leather jacket and showing the pink t-shirt underneath as he headed towards his bed to sit down, take his boots off and get comfortable. Standing around all the time made the legs tired after all, and as he looked at the masked clown sitting down in a rather comfortable looking recliner, In fact, as Piedmon waved a hand over a side table next to him and conjured up a snifter of brandy, Percy continued to smile as the British trickster in training spoke again.

“So, what did you have in mind?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter has some development for Scott Winters and shows he's savvy when it comes to Romance tropes. This chapter also shows the return of Scott's shonen glow, and hints at Tina maybe finally noticing her friend as well, more of a friend. 
> 
> Also, Percy tries not to give a damn about what others think now that the truth's out, at least in the "automatically evil" sense due to his family, and even tries to get Esteban off his high horse like a good trickster. Hell, I personally feel like his moment with Tony, Scott and Cap to be an awesome one for him.
> 
> Meanwhile with Esteban... this I think, is the Spaniard's lowest moment so far in the story with the library scene. Also before he leaves during breakfast? He's calling Percy "Frostbite" as an insult.
> 
> Back to the library scene. Megan... also gets some depth to her character, whether or not it's a good depth, I'm not sure, but well, the kid did see her dad murdered, and well, said murder wasn't too clean either. Esteban of course, didn't know this- in fact, only Bruce was most likely the one to know before hand, but didn't tell anyone because Megan trusted the kid to keep it to himself. So, when Esteban did trigger her, it wasn't on purpose, and he dealt with the consequences of it as well, and it led to an epiphany of sorts for him.
> 
> Also, the "Even Dorumon was afraid" line is definitely a Phantom Blood reference. 
> 
> Finally, Percy's little chat with Piedmon. I had soooooo much fun writing it, and I also had to look up what kind of glass is required to be used with drinking brandy, said glass being a snifter. But anyway, I guess that scene shows Piedmon to be a sneaky individual that Percy can bond with, and well, the scene also showed their friendship developing a little as well.
> 
> Plus, I just wanted this chapter to end on a hopeful note, ya know?
> 
> Anyway, next time on Digivengers: Piedmon and Percy enact their plan! What could go wrong?


	7. Percy and Piedmon's Secret Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy, Kudamon and Piedmon sneak out of the base to try and rescue Sheena. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned...

It was the middle of the night, and all was asleep inside the Resistance Base. Well, almost everyone. In fact, silently making their way through the hallway leading towards the entrance of the base were Percy Black, Kudamon, and Piedmon. The trio having decided to enact a secret mission despite the fact they were supposed to be on lock down.

The mission: rescue Sheena from Lillithmon.

So far, they had managed to keep silent, with Percy successfully nicking a Gatedisk from Wisemon’s lab, and also helped by the fact that Piedmon could use his powers to levitate them so that their footfalls wouldn’t wake up any light sleepers. In fact, so far things had been going well, until they saw that just outside the base there were two figures waiting for them. One of the two being RaptorSparrowmon, who Sheena had used back in the Ring of Hope to get to Mercurymon’s palace and battle him.

The other however, was Scott Lang, also known as Ant-Man.

“So, what are you two doing up this late?” the size changing hero asked as Piedmon and Percy gently and quietly set foot on the ground, Kudamon however, was on his usual perch and hanging around his partner’s shoulders.

“We could ask you the same.” Percy then said as he crossed his arms, his slate gray eyes filled with suspicion.

“Oh, I had a bit of trouble sleeping.” said Lang, acting as nonchalantly as possible as he gave a quick stretch, “So, I figured a bit of night air could help.”

“Same with Piedmon.” Percy said, not really buying the hero’s story, “And since I’m supposed to watch him, well, I had to go with him to make sure he didn’t sneak off.”

“You know you’re not supposed to leave the base.” Ant-man pointed out, causing Percy to smirk.

“And I’m not supposed to be up this late either.” Percy said, “Now, are Steve and Tony listening in through your little membership card?” Ant-man then flinched, apparently not having expected the question at all.

“H-How did you know?!” he said, causing Percy to grin.

“You just told me.” the teen then said with a grin, while Piedmon managed to pull the card out of thin air and hold it between his fingers. “Can’t believe you just fell for that old trick.”

Piedmon then handed the card to Percy, who saw that it was indeed in contact with Cap’s own card, and spoke into it.

“Thanks for the ride by the way.” Percy said as he then returned the card to Ant-man, who looked a bit confused as the boy continued and added, “You know, you really shouldn’t eavesdrop on people’s plans, even if you can shrink down small enough to do it. Kind of makes you seem like a spy and give people the wrong ideas.”

Realizing that Percy was apparently smarter than he seemed, and probably as sneaky as his grandfather based on Thor’s stories about the guy, Ant-Man then sighed and crossed his arms as he shut off communications to Cap. “You know, if you’re going on a secret rescue mission, you could at least bring an Avenger along. Just in case you two need the extra help.”

“Don’t really think you’d three would allow it, even with Cap having stuck up for me already.” Percy said with a shrug, “You know, I am supposed to stay in the base after all as punishment. Don’t think even Captain America would stand for someone sneaking out and doing what’s right.”

“Besides, Lillithmon may have heard about you from another of Plutomon’s minions by now.” Piedmon then said, “In fact, if she has, she may want payback for making her minions look more idiotic and useless than usual. Not to mention it could lead to all of us getting caught. But, since you might make things difficult if we don’t take you along for when we return, well, I do apologize for what I’m about to do.”

Before either Scott or Percy could say anything, Piedmon summoned a white cloth and threw it over the size changing hero’s head. Then, with a quick flourish, removed it and revealed that Scott Lang had been turned into a key chain.

“So… is he still aware what’s going on?” Percy said, as he watched Piedmon pick up the thing and place it in his coat pocket. Percy also realized that the other key chains in Piedmon’s collection may have been actual digimon at one point, and started to worry for the hero’s current state.

“Well, I did apologize, so he’s very much aware.” Piedmon said as he signaled that it was time to get going, “But, when we return to base, I’ll turn him right back to normal. I’d rather not have humans in my collection you know, could just cause me more problems than I need for it.”

“Thanks.” Percy said, climbing on RaptorSparrowmon’s back, followed by the mystical Pierrot. With that out of the way, the quick digimon then took off, and the three troublemakers began Operation: Rescue Hope.

~~000~~

It wasn’t long for them to reach the capital, Percy catching a glimpse of the landscape below, and how much of a wasteland it looked compared to the valley the base had hidden itself in. Hoping that it hadn’t always looked like this, the boy wondered if it was possible Venusmon could restore the place to how it looked before, once they had managed to save her later on.

At the moment, Sheena needed to be rescued.

Soon enough, they arrived just outside the Capital City of Rosae Amore, Raptor Sparrowmon letting them off before it returned to base. Once the digimon was gone, Piedmon and Percy quickly cast illusions on themselves liked they planned.

Piedmon had ended up making himself look like a demonic red skeleton with a black mask, wings, tight, black leather pants, and a black sphere in his rib cage. He also wore metal boots and gloves and had a double ended staff on his back with a hook on one end and a yellow sphere orb held by a red claw on the other.Finally, there was a red, bat shaped charm on both his chest and mask that Percy had seen on Myotismon earlier on in his time in the Digital World.

Percy on the other hand, decided to take a different appearance. He made himself look like a wooden marionette with metal joints, and a long metal nose as well as metal accents under his eyes, as well as gears on his chest and shoulders. He wore a red hat with a yellow hazard symbol surrounding a skull on it, as well as a yellow ball at the end, and also wore a blue set of overalls and a pair of white gloves. Red strings were attached to his feet and hands, the other end of each one tied to a corner of the giant wooden crossbar on his back. He held a hammer that was topped with the bullet chamber of a revolver, which just so happened to be loaded, but as the appearance was just a disguise, it was not really functional.

As for Kudamon, he was diguised as a white and purple scarf, wrapped around Percy’s neck still as the two entered the city. Immediately, Percy and his partner- who kept quiet as usual, noticed that it was rather empty as they headed towards the palace, and that there didn’t even seem to be anyone or anything patrolling the streets.

“Has it always been like this?” Percy whispered, causing his partner in crime to sadly shake his head.

“No, when Venusmon ruled, no one was afraid to come out at night, and the streets were kept safe by the city guard.” Piedmon whispered back, “However, ever since Lillithmon took over and started capturing female digimon, everyone’s been too afraid to come out of their homes at night, fearing they’d be next, or rather their loved ones. But since Lillithmon targets beautiful digimon that could threaten her wish to be the best looking being in the ring, I knew we had to look horrid if we wanted to sneak in successfully. Hence, I picked out Puppetmon for you, and a SkullSatamon for myself. Lillithmon wouldn’t give digimon like them the time of day.”

“Keeps her from hitting on us if we’re caught then, I take it?” Percy then asked, getting the feeling that Lillithmon was the type to judge a book by its cover.

“That too.” Piedmon whispered back, before giving a shrug.

The two returned to silence after that, their mindset returning to the mission at hand as they soon reached the Palace. Following Piedmon to a secret entrance from the palace walls and straight into the garden, Percy knew it was now time for Piedmon to take over, as he knew the place better than the knight of Love.

The first thing they saw in the garden however, was a marble statue of a beautiful woman wearing a blindfold over her eyes, and a sleek gown that was also on the form fitting side. In her hands however- to Percy’s slight confusion, were a dove ready to take flight, and a clam that was partially open. Though Percy looked inside the clam, he didn’t really find a pearl, but noticed that Piedmon seemed rather heartbroken by the statue, as the disguised clown placed a gloved hand on the statue’s cheek. Percy realized that must have been Venusmon, but as they couldn’t really save her right now without potentially alerting Lillithmon, they had no choice but to save the true ruler of the Ring of Love for another time, and the sneaky heroes decided to head from the garden and into the kitchen nearby.

Inside the kitchen however, they didn’t seem to be alone as they spotted a small digimon with a slice of strawberry shortcake for a head covered in white frosting, cut strawberries for ears, a whole strawberry for a horn, and a dollop of whip cream for a tail. The little digimon was dressed like a waiter and wore a pair of boots and a bowtie as well. He also seemed to have been in the middle of making himself a snack as he was had been holding a melon which he then immediately dropped and let it smash a part onto the floor as he saw the intruders.

Just before he could scream and alert Lillithmon’s guards however, Piedmon immediately cupped a hand over its mouth, and whispered to it.

“Shortmon, it’s me, Piedmon. I’m in disguise right now and me and my accomplice here are part of the Resistance!” he said, causing the digimon to look surprised for a moment before relaxing and sighing with relief.

“Oh thank goodness.” said Shortmon as quietly as possible, “Only you could give me a fright like this Piedmon… I take it you’re free now?”

“Yes, one of the Digital Knights managed to break the Black Ring.” Piedmon said, while Percy kept quiet as he realized he was making sure to keep the boy’s real identity a secret for now.

“Oh good,” Shortmon then said with a smile, “This means that you’re not going to be Lillithmon’s butler anymore, at least you got out of that. However, she’s looking for a new butler now, but no one’s willing to volunteer so far.”

“Not surprising…” Piedmon said dryly as he remembered how he had been treated by Lillithmon while he held the position.

“Has any new arrivals come in lately?” Percy then asked, causing the cake digimon to nod and look a bit grim.

“Yeah, a couple of days ago a human was brought in. I didn’t hear where they put her after Lillithmon put the girl to sleep though. I’m not allowed to leave the kitchen unless it’s to serve the wicked witch her meals.”

Percy then sighed, and seemed almost ready to give up, before Shortmon said something else that intrigued both him, and Piedmon.

“Lately though, the vilemon have been talking about how the prisoner asleep and kept in Piedmon’s old room has been seen a couple of times, actually awake under the crystal shell keeping him in place.” it said, causing the two rogues to look at each other for a moment. Though they didn’t say a word, they had both decided on the same thing in regards to their change of plans.

Rescue Thor first, then find Sheena.

“You know where he is?” Percy asked Piedmon, the currently skeletal clown nodding and setting down Shortmon. Percy then looked at the cake before the two moved on, and decided to say one last thing. “We were never here.”

“Got it.” Shortmon said, saluting as the two left the kitchen and headed back into the garden, leaving the little digimon to scramble and clean up his mess.

~~000~~

Back in the garden, Piedmon then quickly whispered as he dropped his disguise, signaling Percy to do the same.

“My room’s just above us, looking over the garden.” he said, as Percy dropped his own illusion and returned to normal, “It’s also warded to set off a _very_ loud alarm in case a disguised digimon broke in. Mainly to keep anyone from looking like me to enter, go through my room and stealing my things. However, if it goes off, it would be very bad news for us, understand?”

“Got it.” Percy said, before Piedmon picked the boy up in one arm, and floated towards the balcony. They soon landed and Piedmon let Percy go, but they then immediately headed towards either side of the window when they noticed the door leading into it from within the palace started to open. Out of sight as a light shone in the room, lit up the balcony a little, and showing Thor’s shadow laying on a bed in the process, the two could hear the voices of what most likely happened to be a pair of Vilemon talking to themselves.

“Can you believe that Piedmon’s gone?” said one, “I mean, sure he hated Queen Lillithmon, but he didn’t have to take it out on us. We’re just the union working for her.”

“Yeah, well, he’s dead now most likely, and he only beat us on her orders anyway.” said the other, “So we don’t have to worry about the union going after him. I mean, he did turn one of us into a key chain, remember?”

“You don’t have to tell me twice…” said the first, his shadow on the balcony moving over Thor’s to check on their prisoner. “He’s asleep for now, thank badness. Geeze, this guy is scary when he’s awake and struggling. Anyway, we might not sue Piedmon for abuse with the Union’s help, but eh, we could always go after who ever is crazy enough to take the job. Maybe as an accessory of Lillithmon’s abuse.”

“True.” said the other Vilemon, and the two apparently prepared to leave as the intruders outside watched the light begin to fade, “Hard to believe the Vilemon union was actually the traitor Beezlemon’s idea. If we ever meet him, we should thank him!”

“Agreed.” said the first, and as the light from the room was gone and the Vilemon with it, Percy and Piedmon waited a few moments in the moonlight, before continuing their mission. Piedmon unlocked the window and opened it, followed by Percy immediately seeing Thor wake up and begin struggling underneath the clear, crystalline shell over his body. The next thing Percy saw however, was a large hammer with a short handle, something he recognized quite well as he moved and grabbed it. Piedmon however, stayed near the door, listening for anyone coming their way.

“Just leave the hammer.” Piedmon whispered quickly, “No one’s been able to lift it ever since he was captured.”

“That’s because it’s enchanted to only be lifted by the worthy.“ Percy  
whispered back before grunting as he tried to lift the thing. As it didn’t even budge, Percy started muttering to himself as he kept trying. “Come on! Let me lift you Mjolnir… I’m trying to get your owner, and the girl I love out of danger!” 

Despite the boy’s intentions, the hammer seemed to judge him only a microscopic amount of being worthy as it only budged slightly before hitting the floor again and the boy giving up. Assuming that his age might have something to do with his current level of “worthiness,” the teen then decided to go another route.

Specifically, the Loki approved magical one.

Pulling out the golden necklace he wore that also held a norn stone his grandfather gave him, the boy quickly took it off and turned towards Thor, the struggling Asgardian stopping for a moment to see what was going on. Percy then tapped the gray charm with the tiny green gem in it against the clear crystal surrounding and pinning Thor to the bed. As he held it tightly, he then focused on what the stone was meant to help him with: escaping from any cell he found himself in, gaining his freedom after being bound or chained, and finally, breaking anything that could be a prison or lock. As he focused specifically on releasing Thor, the gem started to glow and the crystal around Thor started to crack and glow as well.

However, Percy wasn’t prepared for what happened next, as the crystal around Thor exploded outward, making enough noise to most likely alert someone. As Piedmon worked to block the door from being opened up, Percy had been sent back and hit a wall, Kudamon having sensed trouble and landed on the floor before hand. As Thor finally sat up after a month of being asleep and trapped, he felt oddly light headed as the room momentarily spun around him.

“What happened?” he mumbled as he shook his head and blinked, before holding his hand out and causing Mjolnir to leap into it from the floor. It was then, that the Asgardian remembered the past few moments, and looked around, before spotting his rescuer on the floor unconscious. However, Thor also noticed that the young hero was currently bleeding as well as chunks of crystal were lodged in the boy’s chest and left arm, while he also held a firm grip on the small norn stone in his right hand. One of the crystal shards had also cut Percy’s face rather badly, as it bled, and the fact that some sort of white furred creature was trying to shake him awake.

At first, Thor was slightly confused by the boy, before remembering the school and how he kept the two girls apart before the other battle began. Remembering that the girl the boy had held back called him Percy as well, Thor immediately picked the boy up, and the little white creature with what looked like a bullet attached to its tail - or maybe it was somehow a part of the bullet?- quickly moved and wrapped itself around Thor’s arm. In fact, Thor would have tried to get the creature off, had he not seen how worried it looked. Before he could say anything though, the clown, Piedmon ran over looking panicked as the sounds of the door being rammed against, along with Lillithmon demanding it be forced open immediately began.

“What?” Thor said, as the clown put a hand on the Asgardian’s shoulder and used his other one to quickly bring a device out of Percy’s pocket.

“No time, getting us out of here!” Piedmon whispered harshly, before pushing a button on the device, and the four of them disappearing from the room in a flash of light, the only thing left of their presence being a small bit of blood, and also countless crystal shards.

The barrier of random things Piedmon had put up were then blasted apart as Lillithmon glared at seeing the empty room, and entered. Seeing the blood, and that more importantly, her handsome prize was no longer there, the wicked queen growled.

“Who did this?” she said harshly, “Who took my warrior!?”

She received no answer, as the Vilemon with her had none to give her, and so she shrieked and beat all the wicked digimon present in the room, extremely angry about the theft.

~~000~~

Back at the resistance base, Beezlemon yawned as he entered the Throne room with a worried Captain America and Tony Stark, the two Avengers having busted into his room and woke him up, saying it was important. As the Resistance leader sat down on his throne, looking half awake as he stared at them, he spoke.

“Now tell me again what’s going on?” he half-yawned, while the two adult men groaned.

“Percy and Piedmon snuck out.” Tony said, “Scott overheard them, told us and decided to try and join them, but the kid caught on to us somehow and we haven’t heard from Scott since then.”

“Scott… Winters?” Beezlemon asked, things not quite registering yet.

“He means Ant-Man.” Cap then said, and soon Beezlemon became much more awake as things started to click.

“Why the hell didn’t you try and stop them!?” the resistance lord shouted, causing the two heroes to sigh. Before either of them could answer however, there was a flash of light, and once their vision returned, all three of them looked shocked to see Thor and Piedmon standing before them, Percy out cold in the Asgardian’s arms while Mjolnir hung on Thor’s wrist, and Kudamon clinging to the warrior for dear life. The magical clown then pulled something out of his pocket, and set it on the ground before tapping it with his foot. In a puff of smoke, Ant-Man appeared, and looked quite panicked as he ran behind Cap and Tony, muttering something neither of them could really make out.

“I am sad to say,” Piedmon then said to the shocked heroes and Beezlemon, “That while our plan to rescue Sheena backfired… rather badly, I do hope you’ll except our consolation prize.”

The clown then moved out of the way as Thor turned towards them, his face rather grim as Percy continued to bleed and a small pool develop on the floor.

“I would like to know what is going on, but more importantly, I need to know where we can get help for this boy.”

Beezlemon then saw how bad Percy looked and immediately stood up, and headed out of the Throne Room.

“Follow me, I’ll explain everything I can on the way.” The former demon lord said, and Thor did so in silence, leaving behind only a worried group of heroes, and an even more worried Piedmon.

All the four could even do, was hope Percy survived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter ends on a cliffhanger of sorts. Why? Because if I had them rescue Thor and Sheena easily, it wouldn't be much of a story now would it?
> 
> Also, Shortmon came from the Xros Wars manga, and is also one of the first digimon from that manga series to show up. Dominimon however, is the first Manga exclusive digimon to show up in general. 
> 
> As for the Vilemon union? Well, that's my love for the dub of Digmon Adventure and 02 poking through there, since well, I thought it'd be funny to have them mention it, ya know? And yes, it was indeed Beezlemon's idea, and even though they call him a traitor, the Vilemon do revere him as the Union's founder.
> 
> As for Mjolnir only budging before Percy gave up and went with plan B? Well, from what I can tell, how heavy it is depends on one's worth, and while most can't even lift it, Percy being able to- though it was barely noticeable to the kid anyway, shows that eh, maybe one day Percy Black could use it as easily as Thor. Or not, depends on how he is when he's older.
> 
> Now, the explosive result of Percy's use of the Nornstone is well, going to make him uneasy about using it again, but the reason for the reaction at all won't be explained until around the end of Arc 3. 
> 
> Next time: We'll see if Percy gets medical aid just in time, or if Thor is too late to help the kid. *Insert Evil Laugh here.*


	8. Percy's Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor worries about the boy who saved him, and Percy himself learns something important. Meanwhile, Lillithmon has an unexpected guest...

“Valkyrimon! Valkyrimon, open up! It’s an emergency!” were the screams heard as the head medic of the Resistance was roused from her sleep by someone banging on her door. Getting out of bed and grumbling, the digimon then opened up to see Beezlemon, a very panicked look on his face.

“What’s so important that it requires getting me up in the middle of the ni-” she began to ask, only to stop as she noticed an unfamiliar face holding one of the Digital Knights in his arms, and the boy bleeding and not really moving. “Oh no. Alright, follow me!”

With that said, the medic then headed out of her room and down the hall, the Mighty Thor thinking about what Beezlemon told him on their way to the medic’s chambers. How Percy and the other children were meant to save their world, that one of the children had been captured by the wicked Lillithmon recently, as well as how he and his fellow avengers had ended up coming along unexpectedly while trying to save them back on Earth. Though Thor had shouted at Beezlemon, questioning why he let the boy go out alone on a rescue mission, he had then learned that sneaking out had been Percy’s idea, as he had been sentenced to stay in the base until the missing child, Sheena was rescued.

As they moved swiftly towards the Infirmary, Thor then looked down at Percy, noticing a faint resemblance to himself as he thought about the time he and Loki had snuck out of their home for a few misadventures in their youth. Though he admired the boy’s intent, he had to admit that getting himself nearly killed was something even Thor would not commend, even if Percy had somehow gained a Norn Stone, he must not of known how dangerous it could be at times!

Then Thor thought for a moment that Percy might have known what he had the whole time, but didn’t care if he got hurt as long as Thor was released. The warrior wondered how that would even be possible, however, and dismissed the idea. He then noticed that the whole time the had been unconscious, Percy still kept a grip on the Norn Stone he had used and realized how small the thing must have been to be placed on a chain and worn as an amulet in the first place, and then found it rather strange since the stones were normally larger than a simple charm.

When they reached their destination, Valkyrimon immediately signaled Thor to come in and showed him where to lay Percy down as she went to wake up a trio of pink, rabbit like digimon wearing headphones and red scarves. After they heard the situation and got to work healing the boy to at least keep him stable, Valkyrimon spoke up as she quickly gathered tools, removed the golden shield on her left arm and slipped on a green gown.

“Those chunks of crystal in Percy need to be surgically removed as soon as possible, so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” she said before slipping on a mask over her mouth.

“I would rather stay and watch over him!” Thor then said, while Kudamon moved up the warrior’s arm to rest across his shoulders. Of course, the job Valkyries were traditionally tasked with- to gather those that died in battle and bring them to Valhalla, did not do anything to ease his worries once he had learned that the medic was a digital one.

“Listen, unless you know a way to safely remove those crystal shards from his body without causing more damage, then I insist you leave, and let me do my work!” Valkyrimon then said before pulling on some rubber gloves and walking over to the operating table, “I need to be able to focus if I’m going to save him at all, and I won’t be able to do that if someone like you sticks around and adds more pressure to the situation than there is already!”

“I…” Thor began to say, but then sighed as he realized the digital Valkyrie was right, “I understand.”

Valkyrimon however, said nothing as she got to work, telling the Cutemon what to do as she started the operation. Thor, hoping that the boy was in good hands then left the Infirmary and sat down in the hallway with the strange white and gold creature that had clung to him ever since they left the witch’s palace, and waited.

~~000~~

The following morning, Thor opened his eyes and realized he had fallen asleep at some point during his wait. Seeing the white and gold weasel curled up in front of the Asgardian, and looking at him with its golden eyes. While it didn’t have them before, the creature was now sitting up on a pair of hind legs, while the small bullet he had seen seemed to indicate that this digimon was in fact actually apart of the golden projectile.

“You know, I’m surprised you still fell asleep, after you’ve done that for about a month in Lillithmon’s palace, Thor son of Odin.” it said, causing the Asgardian hero to quickly sit up, as he had not expected the creature to speak at all.

“How did you know my name?” he then asked, causing the little beast to sigh and leap on top of Mjolnir, which was laying on the ground close to the blond warrior.

“Percy, my partner, told me about you.” it then said, “I am Kudamon, a Holy Beast digimon as signified by the ring I wear around my neck. As for the bullet on my tail, it is a holy cartridge, and something I definitely cannot be without. In case you were wondering.”

“Pleasure to meet you… Kudamon…” Thor said, not sure what exactly to think about this situation.

“Tell me Thor, why did you wish to stay and watch over Percy?” Kudamon then asked.

“I felt it was the honorable thing to do.” Thor explained, “Percy had rescued me and was injured in doing so. As I feel it was my fault he was injured, it would make sense to stand by him as he recovers.”

“I see.” Kudamon said, though Thor however, felt something was a little off about all of this, and knew exactly what it was.

“Most Midgardians only know me as Thor.” the Asgardian then said, “How did you know to add ‘son of Odin’ when you first spoke to me? Did Percy know of that as well?”

“Yes.” Kudamon then said, “His grandfather told my partner about you, but as Percy’s grandfather is your brother, would it not make sense for family to know of each other?”

Thor’s eyes widened as he realized who Kudamon was speaking of, and then noted that the boy’s possession of the Norn Stone had made sense after all, as that was something his dear brother Loki would sometimes use in his mischief. But a norn stone being used to free someone was not something he had considered at all, as he had so far been turned into a frog and a small child because of them.

“Does anyone else know of my brother Loki’s connection to Percy?” Thor then asked, causing Kudamon to let out a small groan as it’s tiny fore arms moved to indicate a bit of exasperation.

“Thanks to the trial that took place after Sheena’s capture, the whole base knows about it.” Kudamon said with a sigh, “It… has also caused a bit of strife among some of the other children and your fellow Avengers. In fact, he, Piedmon and I were originally planning to find Sheena and leave, but as you were nearby, our plan changed to rescue both you and her and unfortunately, it changed again when your prison exploded and alerted the Vilemon.”

“I remember.” Thor said, before sighing as he felt that his adopted brother was unintentionally causing trouble for the boy, and also for his fellow Avengers. Though he was aware that Loki had children of his own, he had not known that the trickster also had a grandson as well, and the revelation that Percy was technically family gave the warrior very mixed feelings of concern, anger, and suspicion. However, his thoughts then turned to Piedmon, and his face hardened a bit.

“I also remember that Piedmon was a servant of Lillithmon and that he followed her orders without question.” he then said, “I do not understand why he decided to help us escape her.”

“Piedmon was as much a prisoner as you were,” Kudamon said, “While he could walk through the castle freely, the black ring Lillithmon had him wear forced him to follow her commands. Percy released him, and so Piedmon now has a chance to finally fight back.”

Hearing this managed to allow Thor to relax a bit, knowing that Piedmon was in fact an ally rather than an enemy was helpful as the digimon could provide insight about the witch. Also knowing that he and the magician both owed his apparent grand-nephew was also something he could accept, as he considered that if Piedmon was honorable, he would not willingly betray his savior until the debt was repaid. Smiling, Thor then scratched Kudamon’s chin, the little digimon letting out a trill as it nuzzled the Asgardian, apparently accepting him as a friend.

At that moment however, the infirmary door opened, and Thor quickly stood up and picked up Mjolnir while Kudamon leapt onto the Asgardian’s shoulders. As he saw Valkyrimon’s neutral expression however, the warrior became worried and felt he had to ask the big question.

“Did Percy survive?”

Valkyrimon then smiled and nodded, causing Thor to relax again as both he and Kudamon sighed with relief. “Percy’s fine, and he’s currently recovering. He’ll have some scars however and the Cutemon have managed to heal the organs that were damaged by the shards, however I do insist he has some rest, just until the bandages come off.”

“Thank the All Father.” Thor said, “Is Percy awake at the moment?”

“Yes, I take it you want to have a chat with him? Considering what I heard about your brother from the other Avengers, I’m sure you’ll need some privacy.” Valkyrimon said as she left the infirmary and walked down the hall before giving a large yawn “Besides, that operation was long, tiring, and I was running on adrenaline the whole time. I’m going back to sleep.”

Thor simply thanked the doctor in silence, before he rushed in and spotted Percy in a bed by the window, the boy eating some food the Cutemon prepared for him. When the Asgardian reached him however, he saw that the boy’s face was bandaged over the gash that had been on his left cheek, eye, and across his nose the night before, and his chest and left arm bandaged up and covering where he assumed the shards were removed from, and even noticing the boy’s left hand was bandaged up as well. Finally, around Percy’s neck was the norn stone on its golden chain, and as Thor remembered how Percy used it to release him, he was still worried about the stone’s future uses.

“How are you feeling?” Thor then asked, getting Percy’s attention. At first, the teen looked a bit nervous, before using his right hand to swipe the blue streak in his hair and looked away as he spoke.

“Honestly? I feel like I was bloody trampled over by ‘Uncle’ Sleipnir while he was carrying Odin.” Percy said, the accent causing Thor to sadly realize that the boy most likely had some Gaelic ancestry and assumed that was why Loki never told anyone about him, even if it also explained the blue streak dyed into the boy’s pale hair. Of course, despite the fact that the boy also acknowledged the rather awkward fact that one of Loki’s children was also his own father’s steed- since no one in Asgard really liked talking about it, helped the thunderer further accept that the boy was indeed related to his brother. However, Thor then noticed that Percy seemed a little afraid of the Asgardian.

“Is something wrong?” Thor asked, causing Percy to flinch and cringe a bit.

“Guess with all the stories Grandfather told me about your battles, I’ve been sort of afraid how you’d well… _act_ around me.” the teen then said, “Especially since I have ice giant powers along with the bit of magic Loki’s taught me.”

Thor glanced at Kudamon for a moment, the little bullet weasel giving a shrug as if it just so happened to forget that one little detail. Despite that though, the Asgardian then did his best to smile at his grand-nephew and try and dismiss his fears. “As much as your fears may be understandable Percy, and considering my brother’s current status as a villain back in our world, Loki and by extension, you, are still family. I still care for and love my brother, and I will also show that same love towards you. Even if you are partially an ice giant… as well as Gaelic.”

“I’m from Cardiff, the capital of Wales.” Percy then said, “So I’ve got Celtic ancestry on my Dad’s side, and on Mum’s side through her mother.”

“Hopefully you don’t have any Celtic deities in your family as well.” Thor half-joked, “I’ve met Cuchulain once, and it took myself and the Warriors Three working together to even try and defeat him… sadly, the fight resulted in a tie, and I really do not wish to face him again.”

“Well, I have read about the guy, and he apparently died standing after using his own intestines to tie him to a rock as he kept on fighting.” Percy then said, causing Thor to look slightly disgusted at the idea.

“I hope never to do the same.” Thor then said, before the two ended up laughing until Percy had to stop when he cringed again. As the boy seemed to feel a bit more relaxed around his relative, Percy however soon became a little concerned about something else.

“Thor, while I was out cold, I had a weird dream.” he said, causing the Asgardian hero to raise an eyebrow.

“Weird? In what way?”

“Well…” Percy said, and then told Thor what he remembered.

~~000~~

It began just after the explosion in Lillithmon’s palace, Percy could remember being in a lot of pain for a moment, before everything went dark. Next thing he knew however, he was in an unfamiliar place, but spotted his parents, his grandfather, and his wife Sigyn and their sons Vali and Narvie.

“Percy!” the boy heard his mother cry out, before he noticed the large screen hooked to the Monitamon, and saw his body just lying there bleeding as he then watched Thor and Piedmon escape with him. The boy’s attention then turned back to his family, seeing his father hold his mother tightly as she began to cry, while Loki himself looked shocked, and also scared.

“Percy… no…” the god of mischief then said quietly as he held back his own tears, his eyes wide and he didn’t even seem to notice Sigyn trying to snap her husband out of it. “Please… please don’t be dead…”

“Grandpa… I’m okay, really!” Percy said, reaching out to norse god’s coat, only for his hand to go through it as it also seemed Loki or anyone else didn’t even hear him.

~~000~~

“So, I wonder if that means that Loki is aware of what’s been happening, as well as the parents for the other children?” Thor then asked, interrupting Percy’s story. As the Asgardian suddenly felt like they too were being watched, he then looked around only to just miss the Monitamon hiding behind the curtain as it ducked out of sight.

As he could find nothing however, Thor then sighed in apology and bade Percy to continue.

“Thanks.” Percy said, looking slightly annoyed as he started again.

~~000~~

After he tried to get his family’s attention, Percy felt himself be pulled away by something as the room started fading into the realm of Hel, before a palace throne room formed around him, where he was met by a woman in a green cloak and mask with what looked like black horns coming off of it, and her body also wearing a green and black outfit while a small skull rested just under her throat. Brighter green accents resembling a skeleton also decorated the woman’s clothes, and Percy also noted that her lips were painted green to continue the theme.

“Do you know who I am?” she asked him, and Percy nodded.

“You’re… Hela. Daughter of Loki.”

“Correct.” Said Hela with a smile, “As my father, as you know already, is your grandfather through my half sister, Tess, it is… nice to know you recognize your other family, Percy Black. However, you must also know why we are meeting.”

“I’m dead, aren’t I?” he then said, and was surprised about how he actually sounded like he was accepting the idea.

“Not yet.” Hela said, “I cannot yet give you my touch of death, Percy, and while your body is in another world not quite connected to the nine realms, I have gone to great lengths to bring your spirit here to speak with you.”

“What about, Aunt Hela?” Percy then asked in confusion.

“Percy, do you remember what connects you to the other children?”

Percy shook his head, causing the queen of Hel and Nieflheim to sigh and rub her temples through her mask. She then mumbled something about the forces that be getting lazy with letting chosen heroes know important things followed by a few choice words that Percy couldn’t quite identify. As she looked back at her half-nephew, the goddess then conjured up an image for Percy, showing him a park in New York and also the boy himself about five years ago.

“Watch, and then remember Percy, your life will depend on it.” she then said, and so Percy watched.

~~000~~

Five years ago, Percy Black and his family had decided to visit New York during the summer, hoping to help the boy cope with Grandma Black’s recent death. So far, the trip had certainly helped, as the boy had become a little more cheerful as he saw the city, and it was today that he and his parents had come to one of the parks there, letting him run around at a playground and have the time of his life.

It was while he was exploring however, that he ended up in a distant corner- out of sight of his parents, where young Percy had noticed a swing set, a slide, a sandbox and also about four other kids. While three of them were on the swings- two of them looking about four years old while the third was a girl about his age and had dark skin and wore a fire printed long sleeved shirt and black shorts, Percy’s attention was instead grabbed by a young girl with pink hair and a blue set of overalls over a red and white shirt who had been crying under the slide. As he neared closer, he had apparently alerted the girl as she looked up at him and sniffed.

“Wh-What do you want?” she said, “I-I don’t have anything else worth breaking… s-so just leave me alone.”

“I was just wondering why you were crying.” Percy said as he adjusted his blue t-shirt with an icicle printed on it, causing the girl to flinch a bit and hold up a broken toy that looked like one of those electronic virtual pets that had been popular at the time.

“S-Some bullies took Leo away from me and destroyed him.” the girl then said, indicating her broken toy, “I worked so hard to raise him up to max too!”

Percy then realized Leo was the name of her dead Virtual Pet and frowned. He never liked bullies, especially when they led to people crying. He preferred, personally, to see people smile and as he himself remembered that he recently lost his grandmother, the boy then dug into the pocket of his green shorts and pulled out a handkerchief and moved to wipe away the girl’s tears.

And then, the trio showed up.

“Hey, what are you doing hanging around Sheena the Weirdo?” said the voice of a young girl, who caused Percy to turn around and see a young girl with short black hair wearing a pink sun-dress, while two red heads, a boy with a band-aid on his cheek that wore a white shirt and blue shorts, while the other one was a girl with a side pony and hair covering her right eye that looked kind of creepy with her plain black dress and her eerie stare.

“Just seeing why she was crying, is all. Nothing wrong with that, is there?” Percy said, noticing a black haired boy in a red shirt and jeans had wandered up before freezing in place and looking a bit antsy as he adjusted his glasses.

“Oh please,” said the rather mean girl, “If she gets miserable over a stupid V-pet breaking apart, then why bother hanging around her at all?”

“Oi, what do you even know about her anyway? She could be like, related to a super villain that protects their family for all you know!” Percy then said, his theory being true about himself due to his grandfather Loki.

“Yeah right.” the other girl said as she crossed her arms, “Listen, you’re obviously new around here, so why don’t you just back off and let me and my friends go about our fun?”

Now a bit miffed, Percy then decided to try out a trick his grandfather had recently taught him, and focused on trying to create an illusion of a great big dragon to scare the three of them away. Big, red, maybe some flaming wings and red glowing eyes to help get the point across.

However, what instead happened was a little red lizard had magically appeared on the mean girl’s shoe, causing her to scream and kick it off and hit Percy in the head before it landed on the ground.

Percy was confused by that as he rubbed his forehead while his snow-white hair hung down over his fingers, as normally, illusions weren’t supposed to hurt and immediately knew something was wrong as he looked around and noticed the area around the kids start to look off, as if it was becoming grayer. As he looked back to the lizard however, he noticed it began to grow and look more like a dinosaur as black markings appeared on its body, and it’s head sprouted little dragon wings. As the lizard looked at all the confused children, a fog started to roll in as it sniffed around and looked confused itself.

“Where is Guilmon?” it asked, it’s big yellow eyes making it look kind of adorable. Of course, none of the children answered, not sure what was going on now as the park now looked completely gray, and the nine of them were the only thing that had any color at all. The dinosaur then growled and became impatient as the silence continued, and started attacking the children, who then scattered and hid from it as it began to hunt them.

When it reached the middle of the sandbox though, it stopped and roared, it’s yellow eyes turning red as it started to shift into a bigger lizard, then one with robotic enhancements and finally, into a large, red serpentine dragon with fiery wings, armor on it’s upper body and arms and a lightly undead look to it as it it’s lipless mouth opened and the beast roared again. The beast then started searching around more frantically, and stopped when it spotted Sheena and Percy under the slide and charged in, ready to try to grab and devour them.

Then, a miracle happened.

Next thing either of them knew, Sheena’s broken virtual pet started to glow and rise up before repairing itself. Everyone watched as the toy then flew up into the sky and created a portal that then allowed something to come through it, and even grabbed the evil dragon’s attention as well. They watched as a gigantic, beautiful, six winged bird entered the park, giving off a rainbow of light as it looked down at the monster.

“I-Is that Leo?” Percy asked the pink haired girl Sheena, who shook her head.

“No, I-I don’t know what that is!”

“Hope its friendly, cause… we kind of need help right now.”

To make things even weirder though, the dragon then spoke to the bird.

“What are you doing here, Valdurmon?!” said the evil monster, “I discovered this place, so I get to torment the natives!”

“Megidramon,” the bird said, it’s voice surprisingly gentle and comforting despite the fact it had a beak full of teeth and making it kind of creepy, “Do not attack these human children. Please, let us return home to our world without a fight.”

“Fuck that!” Megidramon responded, even giving the massive bird a rather obscene gesture to boot. One of the children- Percy wasn’t sure who, called out that the dragon used a dirty word, but the monster simply roared and flew up to attack the giant bird. All the kids could do was watch as the two monsters battled in the sky. The combatants deciding to tackle and claw at each other for what seemed like hours before the dragon finally took a bite out of the bird’s neck. Valdurmon then shone like a star and managed to destroy the wicked dragon with what seemed to be the power of an actual star itself. Though, a blood red light had headed towards the ground below, and Percy had been blinded by the bird’s attack to see what that beam had ended up hitting.

However, the good bird’s injuries had been great, and so with the last of its strength, it landed among the children, who had ended up gathering together to see the battle and the monster breathed a bit before it said one last thing.

“Children, I apologize that you had to see this…” it said, as it’s body started to flicker and shrink, “I do not have much longer to live… but Leo…”

That was all it said before the grand bird died, unleashing nine different colored lights that hit each of the children, a reddish one hitting Percy himself.

It was then that the memory cut back to what looked like the beginning, Sheena still crying and Percy still trying to cheer her up despite the toy being once again broken. The other kids had started leaving to go back to their families, but Percy still stayed with Sheena, wiping her tears away again, and this time, trying a different illusion, one of a beautiful bird surrounded by a multicolored ring of light. This finally caused the girl to smile.

“Thanks.” she said, and Percy found himself smiling as well.

~~000~~

After the memory had finished, thirteen year old Percy Black felt confused. How could he have forgotten something as important as that day? It just didn’t make sense to him that his memory of the battle would be wiped, almost as if something had reset time to just before Percy brought that lizard into the world.

“So… it’s my fault the other kids and I are here?” Percy then said, the shock having gotten to him, “If it weren’t for me just trying to scare off Tina, Scott and Jean, then that monster wouldn’t have appeared, and we wouldn’t have been brought to the Digital World… But, Hela, just what was Valdurmon?”

“I know not, Percy. However, the world your body is in, hanging between life and death, may just hold the answers. ” the goddess of death answered, “But answer me this, knowing that your attempt to first defend Sheena caused not only all of you to nearly be killed but also affected your destiny, do you still wish to rescue her?”

“Yeah.” Percy said as he smiled, “So what if this is all my fault, if I didn’t do it, me and the others probably wouldn’t be having a pretty neat adventure. Besides, don’t you want to know how this turns out in the end Aunt Hela?”

The goddess smirked before giving an actual laugh. “You are speaking with your heart and it certainly speaks true. Very well, you may return to your body… and next time you find yourself within my Hall before your time, do try and bring your aunt a milkshake.”

“Yes ma’am.” Percy said, before her hall and the realm faded away.

~~000~~

“That’s when I woke up back here, after the the surgery.” Percy said as he finished his tale. Thor had remained silent throughout the whole description, realizing that the boy really was between life and death when Thor had first seen him upon the Asgardian’s release. As for the memory the boy had spoken of, something had started bugging Thor himself, as if he had forgotten something that had happened around that time. He knew not what, and it almost worried him as to what it could have been, or more importantly, what had happened during it.

Of course, by now Percy had fallen back asleep, and so Thor and Kudamon left the infirmary, allowing the young teen some much needed rest.

As for the forgotten moment five years ago, the truth would be revealed in time.

~~000~~

Meanwhile in Lillithmon’s palace, the wicked queen looked curiously at the digimon that had come before her. It looked like a jester with a red and black hat with the two halves each having a different charm at the end, the red half having a golden crescent moon and the black half ending with a blue star. The hat also had a golden crown around it, and the hat’s owner also wore a purple tail coat over a white shirt and dark green tights. His black, pointed shoes had purple accents as well, and he held a long black handled scythe with a pink blade in his hand. Finally while he did not wear a mask like a certain other clown digimon the demon lord knew, he instead wore some make up that resulted in black around one of his eyes with a streak going down his cheeks- the other hidden behind a black bandanna wrapped around his head like an eyepatch, and also bright red lips. The pale skin and pointed ears made him seem very otherworldly, and while Piedmon had pointed hears himself, they were not as pronounced as the ones belonging to this digimon that stood before her.

The big grin he had didn’t help either, as he seemed extremely smug.

“Who, exactly, are you?” Lillithmon then asked.

“I, my dear queen, am Jokermon.” said the clown, “I have decided to answer your call for a new butler, and I will not allow any digimon to betray one such as you my lovely queen, especially Piedmon- if he still lives of course.”

Finding his flattery to be quite attractive, Lillithmon smiled as she considered his offer.

“Very well.” she finally said, “You may wait in one of the guest chambers, if after three days I call for you, then you may have the position. But, if I do not call you after the third day, you are to leave. Understand?”

“Clearly, your majesty.” Jokermon said, and was immediately dismissed by the wicked Lillithmon, who watched him walk away as a Vilemon escorted him to his temporary chambers.

“Hmm, he’s got a nice ass, that’s for sure.” she said to herself once the new clown had left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, as you can see this is a looooong chapter.
> 
> Also, Kudamon probably spoke more in this chapter than he has in the entire fic so far, and oh yeah, Percy lives after all! And we meet Jokermon. He doesn't really do much this arc I'm afraid. Just acts as a plot device. As for Hela's milkshake comment? Read Agent of Asgard. I believe the answer is in that comic actually. I'd say what it is, but well, spoilers.
> 
> Of course, this chapter also has a biiiiiig thing happen in it, besides meeting Hela of course, Percy also learns just what it is that connects the kids- and that's a fight between a giant reptile and a giant bird. Yes, it's an homage to the event that started Digimon Adventure, but with two megas duking it out instead of an Ultimate Level Parrotmon and a champion level Greymon. And the bird wins this time as well. Of course, the battle also happens during the day, has the combatants talk before the fight, and the winner giving the kids the lights of their respective crests after it dies. As for where Megidramon's blood red light went after his death? You'll probably won't expect the answer.
> 
> Don't you guys think it's weird that a miracle happened that seemed to just magically repair Sheena's toy, create a portal to summon Valdurmon and then cause the bird to save the kids? Hmm... I wonder what that could mean?~
> 
> Also, I wonder what it was that Thor could have forgotten, and if anyone else had forgotten anything at the time? Well, it was most likely everyone who forgot that day, since two monsters fighting as the world went all black and white around them? That shouldn't be something a person could forget easily, now should it?
> 
> I'd tell you, dear readers, but eh, Spoilers~.
> 
> Anyway, Next time: Thor takes a look around the base while Percy recovers.


	9. Thor and the Resistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor is shown around the base proper with Kudamon, Piedmon helps Megan and later considers an idea for what to do once Percy's fully recovered, Lillithmon ends up getting an unexpected offer while she relaxes, and elsewhere... a grump is dealing with a higher power.

Thor, son of Odin, had just finished another visit with young Percy Black in the infirmary. The boy had not yet fully recovered from his injuries, but was getting close with help from the Cutemon’s healing powers, as well as the ability to heal quickly on his own having kicked in as well. As the Asgardian Hero walked out of the infirmary with the boy’s digimon partner, Kudamon, resting on his shoulders, the hero had decided to take a walk around the base, with the digimon acting as his guide. In fact, he was just walking past the children’s bedrooms, when he noticed from the corner of his eye that one of the doors was slightly ajar.

As he paused midstep to investigate however, something flashed yellow for a moment and then it happened.

“DINO TOOTH!” Dorumon cried, it’s tiny wings flapping like mad as the purple beast then bit Thor’s arm and knocked him down in a surprise tackle. Thankfully the Asgardian wore armor as well as having a denser body than normal humans, and so didn’t need to go to the infirmary, but the warrior couldn’t help but laugh as the digimon tried to gnaw trough the metal covering his arm.

“You certainly have a lot of spirit, don’t you?” Thor said while Kudamon let out a sigh.

“Well, Dorumon are said to manifest a personality natural to Combat Species of Digimon…” Kudamon then said flatly, “However, some days I think that Dorumon just bites things because he can, and also to partially annoy his partner Megan.” Kudamon then looked towards the furry dragon and sighed again.

“Let him go already will you? It’s quite hard to believe you were once leader of the Royal Knights as it is, but do you really need to act so beastly?”

“Least I accept how I originally died as Alphamon,” Dorumon said as he kept his jaws on Thor’s arm, “Unlike you, Mister ‘I don’t want to talk about my death as Sleipmon.’ Besides, I’m not pointing out how lazy you are scarf-butt.”

“Royal Knights?” Thor asked, but before either digimon could explain, Megan had exited her room and groaned.

“Dorumon, are you biting Avengers _again?_ ” she said, the nine year old girl then proceeding to try and pull her partner off of Thor’s arm, despite the digimon being about a foot and a half taller than her. “I’m sorry about my partner’s behavior Mr. Thor, he seems obsessed with ambushing and biting Avengers for some reason.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem.” Thor said with a smile once Dorumon let go, “In fact, I felt his little ambush was quite welcoming.”

“Was trying to ambush Ant-man anyway.” Dorumon then said “I’ve tried chomping him before, but he always just manages to slip away before I can. Size-changing cheater. At least Captain America and Shell-head played fair.”

“You surprised them both when you were still Dorimon.” Megan said, causing her partner to roll his eyes before mumbling that it still counted as far as he was concerned. Thor had then noticed that the young girl seemed to have had some dark circles under her eyes, and frowned.

“Have you not been sleeping well, little one?” Thor then asked, causing the girl to flinch shake her head.

“I woke up the other night after hearing some noise, and I saw you carrying Percy to the infirmary, and well, seeing how bad he looked gave me nightmares.” she said, causing Thor to look concerned.

“What sort of nightmares?” he then asked, however, Megan didn’t answer. Instead, she looked panicked for a moment and ran away into her room, diving onto her bed and covering her head with the sheets as she seemed to be trembling. Confused by this reaction, the hero of Asgard then looked to the girl’s partner for an answer.

“I think she may have seen something she doesn’t want to remember.” the fox-dragon said, looking worried, “When I first digivolved to Reptiledramon to protect her, I was acting on savage instinct and just slaughtered the digimon that were planning to eat her. But I think what scared her more was me almost turning back into a digi-egg later that day, since I was pretty badly hurt when I digivolved in the first place, so I think she may be more afraid of losing someone she cares about.”

Thor was silent as he considered the information, and feeling a bit pained for some reason himself. He couldn’t remember what exactly it was, but he felt like he had lost someone dear to him yet he wasn’t exactly sure who or what. He then looked rather worried for the young girl, and quickly spoke to Dorumon as he patted the beast on the head, touching what looked to him to be a large red gem as gently as possible.

“Go look after her,” Thor then said, “Keep her company, and perhaps it will help her recover.”

Dorumon said nothing and nodded, watching the Thunderer walk away before heading back into his and his partner’s room, and closed the door behind him.

~~000~~

Shortly before Thor had left however, Piedmon had headed their way after he also paid Percy a visit in the Infirmary. On the way back to their shared room however, the clown had been busy thinking of a way to help get back at Lillithmon for what she had done to the Ring of Love, but had been drawn out of his thoughts just in time to see Megan mention her nightmares, and the events that followed afterward.

The clown felt rather sorry for the girl, having to deal with terrible dreams at night and affecting her mind when she couldn’t get any sleep at all. Not to mention the fact she was a growing child and needed rest in the first place. Of course, he himself had also suffered from nightmares in his youth, before he was taken in by his adopted father, and then a few days or so afterward when a prophecy regarding his former home’s fates led to the poor clown to be hated for really nothing more than paranoia.

However, despite all those terrible memories, he still had one good one from before his adoption had been made official in Witchelny, and that was his first and only gift.

“Perhaps, she may need him more than I.” he said, before looking around and checking to see that no one was watching, before reaching into his sleeve and pulling out a large blue teddy bear with red eyes and a stitched up mouth. Piedmon had many, many memories of this old, but well kept doll, most of them being when he needed something to comfort him after a rough day. Of course, when he was banished from his old home however, his adoptive brother had allowed him to take the doll as it was his only real possession at the time, and so the bear had been his constant companion throughout all of his time in the digital world.

“Well Mr. Grimoire, I believe that I will have to loan you out for a time.” he whispered to the doll, before clearing his throat and heading towards Megan’s room. Hiding the bear behind his back, he then put on a smile and knocked on the door.

Dorumon was the one to greet him, and he certainly did not look too happy at the moment.

“Oh, it’s the clown Prince of Witchelny.” he said, causing Piedmon to sigh as he realized that the digimon most likely heard about that from someone else.

“Ex-Prince, young Dorumon, I was banished after the war after all.” Piedmon then said, wagging a finger and clicking his tongue, “You should not be so judgmental over one’s past, it causes nothing but trouble.”

“Whatever,” Dorumon then huffed as he was getting a bit annoyed, “What do you want anyway?”

“Simply to loan something to help Megan with her nightmares.” he said before revealing the bear, “This is my oldest and dearest possession, Mr. Grimoire. As he has helped me smile again after some rather harsh times in the past, I believe he can do the same for Miss Megan.”

Dorumon however, then looked at the bear with before looking at Piedmon’s smiling face with suspicion, before speaking again.

“How do I know this isn’t a trap?” Dorumon then asked bluntly, “I mean, this does seem pretty fishy after all.”

Piedmon flinched for a bit and sighed. “Do I really seem like the type of Digimon to bring harm to a sad and troubled young girl?”

“Yes.” Dorumon said flatly, causing Piedmon to frown and glance to the side as he also spotted the Monitamon watching them for the families of the children that were currently in the digital world.

“If you care about Miss Megan,” The clown then said as he closed his eyes and kept holding out the blue bear, “you should at least let her use him for a little while before giving it back.”

Dorumon simply grumbled and begrudgingly accepted the doll before heading to the bed and tugging at the covers to try and speak to Megan. The girl however, then poked her head out to see her partner, who then handed her the teddy bear and explained where it came from and also that it was on loan for now. Megan however, simply listened as she held the bear, looking it over while she seemed to be focused as possible as she stared it in the face, while Piedmon watched and waited in anticipation.

The clown relaxed when the girl squealed and hugged the teddy bear, calling it cute and thanking Piedmon when she saw him in the doorway. The clown simply smiled and silently nodded as he watched the girl then fall asleep and holding the doll close, before going on his merry way while Dorumon closed the door to avoid more people from disturbing the young girl.

The good feeling he had for his deed was enough to keep Piedmon rather cheerful as he went into his and Percy’s shared room, and closed the door behind him. He then moved towards a rather comfortable and plush red recliner set between a book case and a small table and leaned back to relax. He then lazily waved a hand over the table, bringing in a bottle of good and expensive brandy that he had managed to stash away in a pocket dimension- along with several hundred other bottles he had saved from both Witchelny and purchased in the Digital World, and a glass snifter. However, before he started to pour himself a drink, the clown then remembered that one Tony Stark had been grumbling about “No alcohol” in the digital world, and so, he pointed his finger at the keyhole, twisted the digit like a key and locked the bedroom door just in case the human came sniffing around and smelled the booze.

Even if it was partly to annoy Tony, Piedmon felt that some beings- either human or digimon, may need some time being sober, especially after a harrowing experience like he had heard the man had gone through with Mercurymon.

Once he was sure he would not be disturbed however, Piedmon then used his magic to pour himself a glass and sip from the snifter of brandy in thought. He knew for a fact that once Percy was recovered, they would need to start planning to rescue the girl Sheena, and also Venusmon from Lillithmon’s clutches. Not only that, but he felt that as things stood now, Percy might not be able to handle a second break out gone wrong, especially if Lillithmon increased security in the capital city after the loss of Thor. In fact, the clown knew they needed an advantage and since Percy held the Crest of Love- as the clown had guessed by the light with which the boy used when the black ring was destroyed, he would definitely need the equipment of a full fledged Knight if he were to stand a chance against the wicked false mistress of the Ring. However, there was a catch to getting it, and it wouldn’t happen at all if Venusmon was rescued. No, that power could only be given by the Original Master or Mistress of the Ring.

Fortunately, Piedmon had done his research as he knew just where to find the first Ruler of the Ring of Love, AncientKazemon, after he had been told about it by Venusmon- who was in fact the second one to hold the title for the Ring of Love. However, he also knew that if they were to find the previous ruler, or at least, the power she had hidden away, it would need to wait until Percy was fully healed. To go before then and just rush ahead would only spell their certain doom.

Not to mention that the journey itself could be fraught with danger.

Piedmon then placed his hands together, steepling his fingers while his brandy sat on the table, the mystical pierrot’s mind focusing on the potential mission ahead, and the prize Percy would gain from it.

“The armor _Brisingamen_ and the mythical blade _Laevateinn._ ” he said to himself, before falling silent once again as he went deep into thought.

~~000~~

Back with Thor and Kudamon, the Asgardian and the bullet weasel had finally reached the Primary village, where he spotted Tony Stark running around the soft area while he was chased by a horde of young digimon led by one that looked like a living metal mouse with long ears. Of course, seeing his fellow avenger then knocked over and pinned by the adorable creatures was enough to make the warrior laugh and gain their attention as a result. He then smiled as the baby and in training level digimon headed towards him and crowded around the hero, bouncing and greeting him to the Primary Village.

“Hello to all of you as well.” Thor said, before looking to see that Tony had managed to get back up while the leader of the group had stayed with him. After Thor used Mjolnir to help him fly over to Tony and land next to him- mainly because he worried trying to wade through the horde surrounding him would hurt the young digimon, the two began to talk.

“It is good to see you again,” Thor then said, “I give my sincerest apologies about not speaking with you immediately upon my arrival, but it was an emergency.”

“I noticed.” Tony said dryly, while he picked up the digimon that had insisted on staying by his side. “I heard you ended up sleeping for most of the time you were here?”

“That is quite true.” Thor then said, giving a nod, “However, I am surprised to see you without your armor as well as the fact you spend a lot of time within the base. Did something happen?”

“Yeah…” Tony said as he gave Thor an annoyed look, “I ended up in the main bad guy’s lair when we arrived, and he took my armor before shipping me off to the very edge of the Digital World where his traffic-cone headed, mirrored maniac of a scientist decided to use me as a guinea pig.”

“I see…” Thor then said, “Can you not simply make new armor?”

“Oh, me and one of the kids started to, believe me.” Tony then said as he threw his hands up into the air, and the metallic digimon he held getting thrown up into the air and landing on the ground by his feet, “But, because supplies of the local metal, Chrome Digizoid were low, all I could really do is make a pair of gloves and boots for myself, and then make a smaller pair for Sheena when she had to face that psycho Mercurymon with just her digimon partner.”

“Fair enough.” Thor said before changing the subject, “I’ve been hoping to see if I could spar with Hulk, but I cannot seem to find him within the Resistance Base, do you know where he is?”

“We haven’t even found Hulk yet.” Tony then said, causing the Asgardian to sigh as he clearly missed what he considered to be a very good friend. Of course, Tony then noticed that Kudamon was around Thor’s neck, and looked surprised for a bit before he spoke again. “Okay, I know Percy probably looks how you might have at thirteen, but it’s kind of creepy how Kudamon hanging off you like he does the kid makes that resemblance stronger.”

“I’ve noticed it as well actually.” Thor said, “Of course, he is my grand-nephew… as odd as it may be to even consider.”

“So, you know about who he’s related to?” Tony asked, and received a nod from the Asgardian, “You’re actually okay with it?”

“Well, he is family after all.” Thor pointed out once again, “And besides, Percy does have a good heart.”

The two then continued to chat a bit, and things seemed to be going well until Thor had decided to ask just what Tony had gone through while he himself had been asleep. Tony however, simply walked away and said nothing, leaving the Asgardian confused along with Kudamon.

~~000~~

Elsewhere in the wasteland to the south of Turtle Valley, a streak of light had been spotted from a village filled with wizard digimon, as they watched it crash nearby. One of the villagers, a winged humanoid with the head of a jackal named Anubismon had decided to head out. Of course he did decide to carry a baseball bat that seemed to be made of petrified wood just in case of trouble, especially in this time of a tyrant ruling the ring. Nothing however, seemed to attack the digimon as he made his way to where the streak had crashed, almost as if the wild digimon outside the village could sense something about the winged jackal man that made them afraid to attack it at all. Eventually, Anubismon found the landing site, and looked rather surprised as he discovered a small, and rather deep crater.

“That Flaming Chicken better not have caused trouble in digital space again.” the digimon grumbled as he then used his wings to fly down into the crater, having thought he heard something within it and soon reached the very bottom of it and looked around. He said nothing as he scanned the place, seeing nothing but rock and bits of natural glass at first, before hearing a noise once again. Following the sound, he then discovered an unconscious, satyr-like digimon just lying in the crater’s very center, and sighed.

“Hmm, no burns, and definitely no where close to needing a rebirth… somehow… but there is definitely something weird with this guy’s core. Doesn’t match the one I’ve got logged for Aegiomon either.” Anubismon then said as he examined the satyr, “I better see what’s up with this guy…”

Anubismon then held a hand over the crystal in the satyr’s chest, and watched as a light came out of his chest and hovered in place. As Anubismon held it gently in his large, three fingered hand however, his eyes narrowed as he gave an annoyed and questioning look. Of course, as the orb of light also seemed to pulse twice, pause, and pulse again in a pattern, the winged jackal knew right away that this was definitely not normal for a digicore, unless it was one of Swallotail’s two creations. But, since Anubismon had made it quite clear to the mass of butterflies to let him know before he created another one or else, Anubismon knew that someone else had screwed with his true job.

“Great. A hybrid that’s not logged to my core, and I’m unable to log unless I go to the Royal Knight’s base in the Center of Light. Since _that’s_ out of the question due to Plutomon going nuts and _someone_ deciding to go nuts with making the Kernel have ridiculous amounts of security to keep the digital world safe, I’m stuck with another guy outside of my jurisdiction, just like those damn squatters who built a town on my property!” Anubismon then ranted, the grumpy digimon soon taking a deep breath as his ears picked up whispers on the breeze, which also caused him to growl as time also seemed to slow down around him.

“Yeah, I’m talking about you. Does Swallowtail even know you’ve been hiding out with the Resistance yet?” he asked, and this time getting a louder response as the jackal was met with the vision of a man with brown hair, and what looked like hands made out of ruby that covered part of the arms of a blue uniform, and sapphire feet that seemed to merge with red tights as the seemingly human man sighed and hovered in front of the Jackal before running his fingers through his brown hair.

“No, but I will need to make my presence known at some point.” the crystaline man said, “I’ve already hinted I’m around by hijacking a trial AncientWisetmon decided to use on one of the… unexpected guests with the kids, but I still plan on helping them a bit more actively, if I need to.”

“Yeah, the old mirror told me about your stunt when he figured it out, once he reached me for judgement.” Anubismon said flatly, “I take it that Captain America is in the digital world?”

“Yeah…” the vision said awkwardly, “I forgot you were around when the thing happened decades ago. Anyway Anubismon, I’m going to need a big favor from you.”

“This is going to involve goat-boy there, and a lot of headaches, isn’t it?” the jackal asked, causing the spectre to laugh.

“Goat-boy, yes. Headaches? Maybe.” the figure said, “Anyway, that town full of Quartette’s folks that you were forced to become mayor of is going to get visitors from the Resistance. Unfortunately, they’ll also have a certain someone with them when they show up, so you can expect some shenanigans. However, once things get settled and Quartette gets the final piece of her little back up plan, I need you to go to the Resistance and help get the Digital World back together.”

“About time.” Anubismon said, “So, besides getting back the part of my job a certain… someone… caused me to lose, what else is in it for me?”

“A chance to hunt down you-know-who, figure out who made a hybrid out of that Aegiomon, and once this is all over, Quartette has promised to give you jurisdiction over Witchelny’s cores since well, you know.”

“Yeah… 25 years, and I’ve had to deal with dead Witchelnans going through the same shit that flaming chicken did to the South before the rings formed.” Anubismon said, before remembering what he was holding in his hand and checking Aegiomon’s core for his memories. “And of course, the core’s missing data. Great. I don’t get to know who made him yet since he’s forgotten everything, and I can’t access the back ups due to the hybrid thing.”

“So, I take it you’ll do what I’ve asked you, at least to try and solve his little mystery?” the phantom said, “Because I’d tell you if I knew, but well… I didn’t even know this one was running around so whoever did it somehow figured out how to hide it.”

“Yeah, I’ll do it” Anubismon grumbled, “But, since I know I’ll have to keep quiet and never acknowledge this meeting unless it’s just us, Swallowtail… and well, _that guy_ if he’s around at the time, I also want those squatters off my property finally once this is all over, got it?”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll make a new continent once the world’s saved.” the spectre said with a groan, “Anyway, I gotta go. Spend too long with time stopped, and… that little shit will find me. Plus, I plan on hitching a ride with the group that’ll be coming to your place before I start getting active, so seeya.”

As the spectre faded and time resumed, Anubismon then placed the core back into Aegiomon’s body.

“Buck Dammit…” he muttered, before picking up the strange digimon in his arms and taking off, “Come on goat-boy, let’s get you someplace safe.”

And so, the jackal headed angel took the seemingly young digimon back to his home, placed him in a spare bed, and waited for it to wake up.

~~000~~

Within Lillithmon’s palace, the wicked queen was currently relaxing in her jacuzzi, as her long, black hair was allowed to hang loosely down her back and shoulders while her golden horns glinted under the light shining down on her. She was thinking about how quiet things seemed to be right now, and with nothing to bother her in the present, her mind found itself going to the words Jokermon said the day before, giving the digimon some consideration for his request to become her new butler.

However, her mind soon went to the night before the clown’s arrival, when her handsome warrior had been taken from her. Though no one reported seeing anyone break in, the way things had remained silent until that loud explosion was heard, and how the balcony window was easily unlocked from outside made her wonder if perhaps, Piedmon had returned to steal her prize as revenge. If the black ring was still on him, this shouldn’t have been possible, but his capture could have resulted in him gaining freedom from her control, and as a result, joined her brother and the Resistance.

“Vilemon.” she then said, getting the attention of the servant standing nearby with a towel, “Go get me Jokermon right now, I’d like to speak with him.”

“Yes my queen!” the ugly servant then said before flying out of the room, and in a few moments, returned with the jester in tow. Jokermon seemed rather surprised to see the submerged demon lord in front of him while her clothes were on the floor near by.

“Jokermon,” Lillithmon then said with a smile, “I would like to let you know that you have gotten the job. As you seem to be quite willing to work for me, I will be looking forward to the future.”

“Thank you my Queen. I too look forward to our potential relationship,” Jokermon then said as he gave a bow, before pulling out a small black box and opening it to show a diamond ring to the wicked digimon. “And perhaps, beyond.”

When she was stunned silent, the clown quickly explained as he began to kneel before her.

“I’ve been a fan of yours for a long time Lillithmon, even when the Seven Great Demon Lords were just starting to make their presence known. Being with you has become a dream of mine, and I truly hope we can be more than Mistress and Servant, and I would love to become your partner in crime.” he said, making it seem more like a marriage proposal more than anything else.

“My, you’re rather bold, aren’t you?” Lillithmon then said with a smile once she had recovered. “I’ll need time to think about it, but you can probably do one thing while you wait for my answer. 

“Oh, I’ll do whatever you wish of me my beautiful queen!” Jokermon said happily as he took a moment to slip the ring on the queen’s finger, “In fact, I’d be more than happy to see you wear this while you think about my proposal!”

“I want you to go to Turtle Valley- where Piedmon was last seen, and gain permission from my brother Beezlemon, who leads that pesky Resistance that may be hiding there, though where in that gigantic place I’m not quite sure.” Lillithmon then said with a smile and a purr in her voice, “If you can manage that and not get yourself reverted into a Digi-egg in the process, then I promise to accept your proposal to become my partner, as well as my butler.”

“Thank you Queen Lillithmon!” Jokermon then said as he smiled at the queen, “I swear to you that I shall start my search for him the day after tomorrow, and ask him directly for permission, and I will not return until I have it!”

“Good luck.” Lillithmon then said, before dismissing her new butler from the room.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, in the Resistance Base’s throne room, Beezlemon was in the middle of lunch when he suddenly choked on his large burger as he felt a shiver run down his spine and also into his wings.

“Why do I feel like someone just played a very, very bad joke on me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this was a big chapter, wasn't it? Well, I'll go on and say that the edits made to the original version on Tumblr, before copying it here to AO3 involved mentioning how much Brandy Piedmon had on him, the bit with Dorumon involving Piedmon's "Seriously?" look towards the Monitamon which probably leaned on the fourth wall a bit, and extending the bit with Anubismon and changing his original comment of "Poor thing, let's get you somewhere safe" since I didn't get to showcase his grumpyside until a later chapter in this arc, and well, looking back? That bit of dialogue was jarring compared to the grump I developed Anubismon into. 
> 
> Also, the scene with Anubismon would have just involved him finding Aegiomon, picking him up and leaving. The bit with the spectre was added just to add more info about the situation in the digital world, and also hint as to who may or may not have been really talking to Captain America back in his trial in the Tunnel of Regrets (Arc One, Chapter 10). That, and there are hints as to who Swallowtail might actually be, as well as something special about Anubismon himself...
> 
> As for how Anubismon knows about Cap? That's a secret!~
> 
> And yes, the references to the "Flaming Chicken" and their old domain being a basic hell hole is a reference to Tamers. 
> 
> Now then, in regards to other stuff in this chapter, let's go over it quickly, shall we?
> 
> Piedmon's teddy bear Mr. Grimoire is what I've decided to call the blue bear in some of Piedmon's official card art. There's no explanation at all for the bear, but well, I felt I should reference it anyway because why not? Plus, it helped show a moment of heartwarming for Piedmon and Megan. Even if Dorumon was a sourpuss about it.
> 
> Kudamon is aware that Dorumon was once the leader of the Royal Knights, Alphamon as he was back in Chapter 16 of Arc one. Of course, Dorumon is now aware that Kudamon was once his old buddy (sort of) Sleipmon, and also shows that Dorumon can be a bit of a dick. Then again, after decades of being a core, and temporary amnesia, you'd probably be grumpy too, especially if you're not allowed to go out and get into fights because of your partner. Yeah... Dorumon is going to be confined to the base the whole arc, and will only get at least ONE good thing in this arc a bit later. Not saying what though.
> 
> Tony is of course, being a jerk over the whole Mercurymon thing again. 
> 
> Also, as for Thor's moment of "Why do I feel like I lost something and don't know why?" Well, that ties to what Percy ended up remembering last chapter, but sadly, the pay off on this moment is still a long way away, and might not even be explored until a later arc.
> 
> Finally, yes, Lillithmon is naked in her Jacuzzi, but keeps herself seated in it, so no explicit fanservice mentioned here. Also, Jokermon is basically asking Lillithmon to marry him, and she's aware of it too, which is partly why she decided to go have Jokermon meet Beezlemon to "ask permission." Also, she's just playing the guy like a harp and using his feelings for her to get him potentially killed, and also do a better job of locating where in Turtle Valley her brother's base is hidden.
> 
> This plan, will backfire on her. Guesses to how go in the comments below, and also guesses for what she'll do in response.


	10. Loki Explains it All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki goes to Asgard to explain what's been going on to Odin. Considering it's Loki and he's the most hated man in Asgard, it'll take a miracle to have this go well in any form...

Heimdall stood at his usual post at the Gate to Asgard, overlooking the Bifrost and making sure no one unwanted tried to break in. Of course, during the past month, he had been watching Earth as well ever since Thor had disappeared, mainly to keep an eye and ear on the mischievous Loki.

So, when the god of Mischief and Chaos himself gave the order to “Open the Bifrost“ from Midgard, the black skinned and golden armored warrior smiled as he complied. Watching Loki with his golden eyes, Heimdall noted that the black haired, green eyed prince looked different. While he still wore black, green and gold clothes as usual with the god’s horned, golden helmet, it seemed to him that the black had faded to a dark gray, while the gold accents shone brighter than normal. As for the green on Loki’s garb, while normally a dark and subdued shade, it seemed a little more vivid and lively now.

Heimdall of course, made no comment about the man’s appearance, as he had a good idea what was causing the change.

“I take it that you are to enact your latest plan?” Heimdall then said with a smirk, causing Loki to simply roll his eyes.

“We both know the answer to that one.” the Trickster then said as he crossed his arms while also being sure not to smack himself with his own staff, “Everyone in Asgard knows that when you use your powers, it’s nearly impossible to keep a secret from you.”

Heimdall simply smiled and let Loki pass, being sure to keep a watch on the Bifrost as the portal closed shut, while also keeping an ear towards Valhalla to listen in on the upcoming bit of entertainment.

~~000~~

The first thing Loki noticed as he entered the throne room of Valhalla, was that his adoptive parents were not alone. In fact, it seemed all but the Lady Sif had been gathered and almost everyone seemed to have been expecting him. The trickster immediately assumed it was because Heimdall reported in that Loki had planned to come out of his self imposed exile today, and word spread all over Asgard like wildfire. Of course, since most of them looked like they were expecting an execution - most likely Loki’s own, it was obvious that what the trickster had in mind was not going to be easy.

Then again, things are rarely easy when you’re the most hated man in Asgard.

“Loki.” the golden armored Odin then said from his throne- the ravens Hugin and Munin perched over his head and the twin wolves Freki and Geri on either side of him, “You have been acting oddly since Thor’s disappearance. You have willingly placed yourself in exile, and actually chose to stay out of trouble for once. Now that you have returned after only one month on Midgard, need I assume this is all _another _plan to take over Asgard?”__

__“No All-father.” Loki said through gritted teeth, “There are more important things than your throne right now, and honestly, I no longer care to attain it.”_ _

__The words actually caused surprised gasps to leave the gathered audience, some whispers calling Loki out as a liar going through the crowd soon after, and the irony of such accusations were certainly not lost on Loki himself as he rolled his eyes. Of course the Warriors Three of Volstagg, Fandral the Dashing and Hogun were actually doing their best to calm everyone down- to the Trickster’s surprise, though he couldn’t help but feel that it was because they were ordered to do as the best way to keep things as civil as possible, and also to keep Loki from being killed before he had a chance to explain himself._ _

__To say Loki wasn’t tempted to comment on this would have been a bald faced lie._ _

__Odin himself however, looked curiously at his adopted son.The All father soon going back to a neutral expression after lowering his raised eyebrow. Of course, the one eyed king of Asgard also seemed to be rather suspicious and judgmental of Loki, and considering the past it was not without reason._ _

__“What, might I ask,” Odin then said with a slight glare, “could possibly become more important to _you_ than my throne?”_ _

__“My _grandson_ , and also making sure he and my brother Thor return to Midgard safely.” Loki said, causing Odin to look even more surprised. As entertaining as it was to the Trickster to see the All Father widen his eye and look like he had been caught in an embarrassing situation, Loki wisely chose not to comment just yet._ _

__“It would be best for you to explain, Loki.” Odin said after he recomposed himself, while Loki just groaned and rolled his eyes._ _

__“Well, that _is_ what I planned to do All Father Odin, and it’s about time you actually let me do so.” he said, before conjuring up the image of a woman with short black hair, blue eyes, and wearing nothing more than a white Midgardian t-shirt and jeans. “For starters, this woman is Tess Black, my _daughter_ by a woman in Midgard. While she only has slightly enhanced durability, strength, and agility, she is still nothing more than a standard woman from Midgard. However, it is her son Percy that has managed to gain more powers than she. For the past thirteen years, I’ve helped watch over him on her behalf, as I watched over her for her late mother and when it became clear to me that he was more than a simple boy of Midgard, I decided to try and help him get used to and control his abilities. I have also passed on some of the spells I learned from mother so he could protect himself when needed.”_ _

__As he continued to speak, Loki then conjured up an image of a young boy with snow white hair spiked upward with a blue streak in it as well as slate grey eyes, that also wore a black leather jacket over a pink shirt and jeans as well as black boots, leather half-gloves and a black and purple watch on his right wrist. Of course, as the image had earned the trickster a few comments about the boy looking ridiculous, he ignored them for now as he knew full well he didn’t need to get off track._ _

__The God of Mischief also noticed that his adoptive mother, Frigga seemed proud that he had passed on some of his skills and was actually helping someone other than himself, but as for Odin, Loki could not tell what he was thinking. Then again, Loki could never tell what Odin was truly thinking when it came to things other than Thor’s health and safety, as the All Father had spoiled the Mighty Prince as far as Loki was concerned. Of course, as the god of mischief decided to continue his explanation rather than say anything about what he thought of the All Father, he then conjured up an image of the park and displayed the battle that took place there._ _

__“Five years ago however, something unusual had happened, a moment in time that was somehow forgotten by seemingly everyone.” Loki said next, “Percy was a witness to this event: a battle between Megidramon, a dragon he accidentally summoned while trying to create an illusion to frighten off a few bullies, and Valdurmon, a great shining bird with six wings that arrived through a portal. I however, do not know what happened after the battle ended, other than the bird simply giving something to Percy, and eight other children before dying and the world resetting to just before the battle.”_ _

__“How have you come across this information, then?” Odin then asked with a slight smirk, “If this was a moment forgotten by all, as you claim?”_ _

__“I will get there in time All-father, if you will allow me to continue and not interrupt my tale further.” Loki said, causing the king of Asgard to glare while Frigga stifled a laugh. This followed with a signal from Odin to continue, and so he did._ _

__“Nothing of note really happened in the five years afterward,” Loki then said as he conjured up the image of the school Thor had been visiting when the whole mess began, “That is until about a month ago. Due to an undisclosed incident, Tess and her family moved to New York and while that did make visiting them much more difficult for me, I did what I could and was in the process of checking on my grandson when the incident occurred.”_ _

__He then showed them the events of the battle, from Sheena running in shortly after the Avengers arrived to attack her rival, to the portal appearing overhead and sending down Leomon and Murmukusmon. He showed the battle that followed between them and the Avengers, with Leomon’s sacrifice and Thor bringing the hammer down on the villain that had planned to destroy the children. This followed with the children rising and the Avengers’ vain attempt to keep them from leaving Earth, only to be dragged along with them and the six digimon that arrived on Earth in their place looking confused while one held the egg that Leomon had turned into._ _

__“Heimdall already told us about this,” Odin then said, “as he told us that you were there and that you had a hand in the event as well.”_ _

__“It is true that I was involved,” Loki said, “But only to try and help protect the children as I empowered Leomon in the battle and did my best to keep him alive as long as I could without letting my presence be known. I just… didn’t expect him to turn into an egg after his death.”_ _

__“You tried to keep the _lion_ alive,” said one of the Warriors Three, to be specific, the handsome Fandral, “and yet you did nothing to assist Thor! How do we know whether or not you even planned for this to happen and just conjured those beasts to appear like Percy had supposedly done in that forgotten moment?”_ _

__“Would I truly be so cruel as to put my own grandson in danger and send him away from earth and worry his own mother!?” Loki shouted at Fandral, the trickster’s rage quite clear as all that was gathered fell silent. “I would never place my children, or even my _grandchildren_ in such danger, even if it were to get rid of Thor. I am not my true father Laufey, and that is something I am thankful for in regards to how Odin has raised Thor and I, but that at the moment, is the _only thing._ ”_ _

__“I do not have time for this…” Odin then said as he started getting impatient, “I am willing to cut this short Loki, so that I may continue trying to find my son Thor’s true location. After all, this could simply be another one of your tricks.”_ _

__Loki was silent for a moment, the dismissal from the king of Asgard about why the trickster was here not only hurt, but even more drove Loki a little further in his rage._ _

__“Were you not _listening!?_ ” Loki then snapped at the All Father, “I am trying to tell you where Thor is as we speak, as I have also been trying to explain just what is going on! But no, you never even seemed to want to listen to me, whether it is because I am simply an adopted frost giant, or because I’m evil, and even then the latter is due to _your_ treatment towards me!”_ _

__Before Odin could even speak against the outburst, Frigga spoke up after giving her husband a glare to silence him._ _

__“Please then Loki,” she said kindly, “Continue.”_ _

__“Thank you.” Loki said with a smile after he took a moment to calm down, and did as he had been asked. He started by conjuring up an image of Thor and a woman with black hair styled and kept in place with a golden comb, and pins- a style similar to a member of the Japanese pantheon of deities that rarely interacted with the other gods, as well as small, golden horns growing out of her head, blue eyes, violet lips and pale skin. She wore a loose hanging purple robe and what seemed to be a black and gold body suit underneath, as well as having her right hand covered in golden armor. Around her neck was a black and gold collar, while four bat like wings spread from her back, and also twin spaded “tails” made of gold trailing behind her. Finishing the woman’s look was a black bat that was tattooed on her forehead. However, before he could say anything, the image of the woman had caused several if the men gathered, except for Loki and also Hoder- who was blind, to make quite a racket as they saw what was to them, a rather exotic lady- including Odin. The sound that followed was best described as a series of loud and painful smacks as the wives of those gathered, along with the Valkyries, were unimpressed by the men’s antics and knocked them silly to silence them. Including Frigga towards Odin._ _

__Before Loki could then say anything however, he looked around rather bemused as he half expected another interruption to occur. As none came up, he smiled and explained once again._ _

__“This witch here, is known as Lillithmon, and as you have surely noticed by now, all the monsters I’ve named in this tale all end with the same three letters, as for some reason all creatures in the world they came from are all known as ‘Digimon,’ and as a result, that is how their individual species are referred. When Thor entered their home called the ‘Digital world’ he was separated from the children and ended up in a section called the ‘Ring of Love’, where he was captured by Lillithmon and her enslaved butler, Piedmon, and placed into a deep sleep and encased in crystal.” Loki said, as he also conjured up an image of the masked clown and his rather silly looking outfit as well. “However, it would be a while before he was rescued, as the children had their own adventures in another region called the Ring of Hope.”_ _

__“What sort of adventures?” Odin asked, causing Loki to smile and tell their story._ _

__The trickster explained how the children had been gathered and summoned to the other world to save it from a wicked monster known as Plutomon, and that the Resistance led by Beezlemon had been on the losing side since the villain’s take over. However, the children and also Thor’s friend Captain America had managed to help turn the tide against Plutomon’s first general, Mercurymon. He went on to explain Percy’s hand in things the most, from how the boy met his partner Kudamon, the hardships he faced trying to keep his relation to Loki a secret, and also how he cared for one girl named Sheena, who he used a protection spell on before she went off to battle the wicked mirrored maniac. Loki provided images of the story so far when he could, getting cheers and jeers from his audience as the battles commenced, and some of the slower parts bored them. There were also laughs, and gasps of shock, and solemn silence for the bits he explained that were no doubt heartbreaking. He explained that the eight families involved (after explaining that two of the children were twins) had been able to watch events in the digital world through a digimon called Monitamon, and how unfortunately, this meant that Loki’s secret was exposed in what Percy had probably assumed to be private moments, as well as the trial Percy had gone through to earn his Crest of Love. Of course, the part where he described Dorumon’s near death also drove the large Volstagg to tears, but most likely because of the fact the little purple furred warrior was partnered with a young girl._ _

__In fact, he was asked to replay the part where Sheena defeated Mercurymon a couple of times, as that had really gotten the crowd excited._ _

__Of course, Loki soon showed everyone the events leading up to Thor’s rescue, from Sheena’s capture, to Percy exposing his Jotun abilities to Beezlemon and the following confession to his friends, and also the trouble caused by one of the other children. They seemed pleased that Thor was rescued, and as Loki finished with his exposition and ending with Percy’s recovery, all was quiet._ _

__Finally, after what seemed like hours, Odin spoke._ _

__“What confuses me most was Percy’s test in the mirror.” he said, “Why does he know of Ragnarok, and why did your copy act like it has happened before?”_ _

__“Because that was how it’s always been!” Loki said, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation, “Countless cycles of being born, being raised by you and just ending it all only for it to start all over again after Ragnarok has been occurring ever since the universe began. However, every cycle at some point I tend to remember the previous one, usually after Baldur is killed and it kicks off. However, it’s been happening earlier and earlier in my life these past few cycles, but no matter what I try, I couldn’t stop it! In fact, when I was five in this one was when I remembered it all! I blocked the memories until I turned evil however, but now I truly wish to avert Ragnarok, if not for me, then for Percy- your own great grandson. After all, it would be one amazing reward for rescuing Thor, correct?”_ _

__“I admit, you have a point.” Odin said, “As for your new goal, I also admit that I am actually impressed.”_ _

__“All-father, you can’t truly be falling for this!” said Baldur- the murder victim to be if the trickster failed to reach his goal, “This is Loki, the god of Evil, Mischief, Lies and Chaos that we are allowing to speak here! There is no possible chance of him actually averting Ragnarok. I may be the one who’s death starts it, but it is the word of the Norns, and there’s no going against that.”_ _

__“He has a chance, my brother.” Hoder said quietly, “I can forsee a future where Loki succeeds in his mission, and it is quite surprising.”_ _

__“How do we know he won’t just go back to being Evil once Thor returns?” shouted one of the Warriors Three, Volstagg from the sound of it as Loki turned to see the large man continue, “He’s caused trouble in the past, and who’s to say he won’t cause any more now? Besides, his grandson looks like a Celt!”_ _

__“That’s because he _is_ a Celt.” Loki said with a groan, “I admit, I was drunk when I met Tess’s mother in Wales a couple of decades ago, but despite that, Percy does resemble Thor, and has managed to slightly move Mjolnir when he nearly killed himself trying to release my brother!”_ _

__“Percy’s exploits may be impressive Loki,” Odin said before looking quite disappointed, “However, everyone speaking against you has a point about your potential for returning to evil, as does the fact you admitted to sleeping with a Midgardian woman descended from the followers of those Wild Gods of Ireland and England. You could have _certainly_ done better.”_ _

__Loki said nothing as he then heard everyone around him talk about his past failures, gossiping about how a frost giant could never compare to them, and hearing his adopted father’s disgust over Percy’s grandmother had turned into the straw that broke the eight legged horse’s back._ _

__“ _ENOUGH!_ ” Loki screamed, causing silence to fall as his body started turning blue and his eyes turned red as he started into another rant, “I am sick and tired of this! Yes, I am a damn frost giant, yes, I’ve done some terrible things but I probably wouldn’t have if all of _you_ didn’t just treat me like a monster due to prophecies or my heritage! Every cycle I had to deal with this… this _shit_ and I am tired of it!”_ _

__“Lo-” Odin began to say, only to be blasted in the shoulder with a small bit of ice from the pissed off trickster._ _

__“Do not interrupt, _Odin._ ” Loki then growled, “In fact, _your_ choice of playing favorites with Thor, _your_ aloofness towards me even after claiming pride in being the one to raise me when I found out as a teenager about my being a Frost Giant was also a factor in my past exploits. All I wanted, all I _ever wanted_ was to hear that you were proud of me and what I could do. However, every time I made a mistake- even when Thor was also at fault, I was the one to get your disappointment. I was the one to get the harsher punishments all but _one time._ I was the one who had to cry himself to sleep while in my brother’s shadow every time you praised him and punished me. I grew jealous of Thor, who had no idea _what_ I was feeling and was instead nothing more than a bystander in _your_ actions and the results. It was never _Thor’s_ fault that I ended up this way All-father, it was all _yours,_ and yours alone.”_ _

__Odin was silent, the words he heard cutting into him like a knife that was so cold it burned. While the ice on his shoulder had melted, he said nothing as he found himself thinking about them while Loki continued and directed his rage at all that had gathered._ _

__“As for all of _you,_ ” he said, “all of you that believe me to be nothing more than a monster who is to be ever the villain in Ragnarok, a liar, a trickster and a chaotic monster. I am a runt among the Frost giants. I was left to die when Odin found me, and yet I seem to be the _only one_ who knows what happens in every cycle of Ragnarok! I see the differences in this one compared to the last, and I will change the future for the better, and wipe Ragnarok away for good!”_ _

__"You are nothing but a liar, Loki.” said a voice from the crowd, everyone looking to see that the brave and possibly foolish soul who had spoken was Tyr, the former hero of Asgard. Loki was silent for a moment, before his skin turned to a normal peach color like almost everyone else in Asgard, and his eyes became green once more. Loki seemed to think about his words for a moment, before suddenly smiling and letting out a few laughs which confused the gathered Asgardians._ _

__“Perhaps I am a liar.” Loki then said as he moved towards him “But tell me Tyr, what _is _a lie?”___ _

____“Nothing but a falsehood,” Tyr said, looking as confused as he sounded, “a tale, an excuse, nothing but a story.”_ _ _ _

____“I’m sorry, could you say that _last part_ again?” Loki then asked, still smiling and unnerving the former hero who was now rubbing the stub of his missing hand._ _ _ _

____“A story?”_ _ _ _

____“Thank you!” Loki said, before turning away and walking back to the center of the hall, “A _story._ Now, while not _all_ stories are true, they can be altered and edited until they _sound_ like truth. We all do it. Exaggerate a detail here, change a few facts there to make ourselves look good. Why we do it may vary, from protecting our pride to just making it an entertaining tale in general, but everyone and every _thing_ has a story. Now, even _Ragnarok_ is nothing more than a story waiting to be retold in the guise of a prophecy for us every cycle, but well, we can _all_ admit we don’t like how it ends, especially myself.” Loki then paused, and noticed that everyone was looking at him like he was insane and perhaps he was right now, but at the moment he felt it to be the most fun he’s had in ages._ _ _ _

____“So since no one likes the ending, as the one who starts it every time, I swear on all who witness me here today, and all that do not that I _will_ change it. Not as the God of Evil or Lies, but as the _God of Stories._ ”_ _ _ _

____Loki then fell silent, all around him looking surprised and confused about the oath, while Loki himself seemed to remain feeling rather good about himself. However, it was then that Odin once more spoke._ _ _ _

____“To go against the word of the Norns, Loki, you have finally lost your mind. No one can fight their fate, it simply cannot be done.” the All-father then said rather grimly, but even this did not cause Loki to stop smiling._ _ _ _

____“Has anyone even tried? I mean, Thor _did_ survive the battle against the Midgard Serpent when that idiot Doctor Doom summoned it. So, if _Thor_ can change his fate, than it’s fair enough to believe that _I_ can, and _will_ change mine!” Loki said, feeling confident that he would pull off this miracle of completely averting Ragnarok. In fact, he was so confident, that he felt a bit lighter and only then did he realize something was happening as his body started to shine in a blinding light. What followed was a tingle at first, warm and gentle, but soon he screamed in pain as he felt his body was being submerged in the boiling venom of that damn serpent he’d had to deal with in Ragnarok after Baldur’s death. Something had definitely been changed by his proclamation, as he could actually feel the words of destiny being re-written. He hadn’t expected it to hurt however, but this pain was actually worth it as he stopped screaming and just accepted what was about to happen._ _ _ _

____Everyone around him simply watched in shock and awe as the light appeared, though they had to shade their eyes as well to catch a glimpse of what was happening to Loki when the screams began. By the time it faded however, they saw a very, very clear change in the man’s appearance. He had become a bit more attractive as his clothes looked noticeably brighter as the black areas became white, the gold accents seemed to actually glow, and the green was like grass lit up on a sunny day. His horned helmet turned into a crown with one horn broken off and the other intact, while his staff had turned from the wicked looking spear it was to something loosely resembling a pen while a thick book was in a bag hanging from his shoulder. However, the most stunning aspect of Loki’s new look was the fact he now had a crest on his back that resembled a stylized dragon’s foot, or at least an “M” with some accents that made it look as such._ _ _ _

____Odin himself, was silent towards the change, and actually felt tears well up in his eye as his son had actually defied all expectations with mere words and a change of title. Even the prophecy he had heard long ago, that stated that Loki would become an irredeemable monster that would end all life, had seemingly been broken as well._ _ _ _

____“Loki…” he then said, actually giving the reborn prince of Asgard a smile, “I’m…. I’m proud of you, my beloved son.”_ _ _ _

____Loki however, simply shrugged before he spoke. “You realize that it’s too late now Odin, do you not? After giving you grand children while Thor had not, while doing my best to appease you, you only just now say those words when I stopped caring? How is that for Irony!”_ _ _ _

____Odin said nothing, clearly heartbroken as he realized that once again, Loki was right, and an awkward silence had fallen into the throne room. In fact, the next few minutes were so uncomfortable, that when the image of Sigyn appeared next to Loki and spoke, it was quite welcome._ _ _ _

____“Loki!” she said, apparently not yet noticing her husband’s new look, “Where are you? There’s a broadcast that will starting in a few minutes! Will you please finish up what your business, and come join us?”_ _ _ _

____“I’ll be there in a moment, Sigyn.” Loki then said while gently smiling at her, “I had just finished speaking with the All-father anyway. I’m looking forward to seeing Percy fully recovered after all.”_ _ _ _

____Sigyn’s sending then nodded and vanished, Loki turning to leave before being stopped by the guards crossing their weapons in front of the door._ _ _ _

____“Oh _now_ what is it!?” Loki said with a good bit of venom in his voice, just as Odin spoke up._ _ _ _

____“Loki… might I join you in seeing this ‘broadcast’ that your wife had mentioned?” the All-father asked rather humbly, causing Loki to seem rather surprised. “I… wish to see if what you spoke about Thor earlier, was indeed true.”_ _ _ _

____Loki was shocked at first, as was everyone else. Though the All-father had gone down to Midgard once while Thor was on the Avengers, even then he didn’t ask to go before hand. “If you would like, though you will have to deal with my daughter and her Celtic roots, as well as other Midgardians.”_ _ _ _

____“It… probably will not be too torturous an experience…” Odin said, and rose from his throne to join Loki, his son. Once the guards returned to their posts and moved the spears out of the way, the two then headed towards the Bifrost.____

 _ _ _ _~~000~~____

 _ _ _ _A few momenst later, the parents had been chatting away in Alejandro Montoya’s living room, the big screen tv having been set up and connected to the enhanced Monitamon as it waited for the transmission to be sent. Of course, when the portal opened up and Loki came in with not just new clothes, but also having the All Father in tow, everyone had looked surprised._ _ _ _

____Also, a man with graying brown hair and gray eyes had passed out, only to be caught by Loki’s son Narvie, the red haired Asgardian teen doing his best to rouse his half-brother in law, Ian. Loki simply groaned and shook his head at the man’s display, grumbling about how disgraceful it was as Odin simply introduced himself to everyone. As for Loki’s daughter, Tess, she did not look too pleased as she walked up and slapped her dad._ _ _ _

____“What the bloody hell were you thinking!?” she whispered while Sigyn simply sighed and prepared to do some damage control as Vali just sat on the couch and waited for the show to start, “Bringing Odin here!? Does he know about me or Percy?!”_ _ _ _

____“Don’t worry Tess,” Loki then said as he tried to salvage the situation and ruffle his daughter’s hair, “I’ve had to explain everything, but your grandfather had insisted on seeing the broadcast. I also managed to will myself into a new role in Asgard, as you can see but that’s not important right now.”_ _ _ _

____“If a brawl breaks out,” Tess then said, “You’re handling damage control, understand?”_ _ _ _

____“Completely.” Loki said with a smile just as Odin sat down on the couch and the the broadcast began.____

 _ _ _ _~~000~~____

 _ _ _ _In the infirmary of the Resistance Base, Percy Black was wearing his boots and jeans while standing up and removing the bandages on his body with the help of Thor. The hero of Asgard could see the scars where the boy had been injured on his left cheek, across his nose and through his left eye- though the eye itself looked completely fine and still worked. Thor could also see the scars on Percy's chest and left arm, and while proud that he had survived and could wear all of them proudly like any warrior would, Thor still felt a little guilty about the fact the boy had been injured at all while trying to rescue him. Curiously however, there was still a shard embedded in his left hand, the shining white crystal having been merged with the skin surrounding it._ _ _ _

____“So,” Percy then said as he took a moment to stretch while Valkyrimon had what was left of the boy’s clothes nearby, “any instructions on how to handle myself Valkyrimon? Or am I clear for action?”_ _ _ _

____“Well, despite that shard in your hand managing to merge with your muscle tissue. Don’t know why it happened with that one specific shard while the others did no such thing, but there are a lot of mysteries in the digital world that modern medicine can’t really solve… yet.” Valkyrimon said while Percy tested the fingers on his left hand and shrugged as they saw they still responded as normally as before his accident, “But in any case, yes. You are clear to return to acting in the field… especially since Beezlemon decided to let you off the hook for almost getting killed.”_ _ _ _

____“Well, I’m alive and I can still use my hand,” Percy said, before making a small swirl of snow in the palm of his hand before dismissing it, “So best not to look a gift horse in the mouth, right?”_ _ _ _

____“Right…” Valkyrimon then sighed, before handing the boy his ragged pink shirt- the holes having been sewn up by Lillymon who had also been busy making some spare clothes for everyone as well, and his leather jacket that now had mis-matched sleeves with one long and the other going a little bit past the shoulder as he slipped it on. Mainly because Lillymon had no leather to work with for repairs. As for his half-gloves, a hole had been made in his left that exposed the shard, while his right was still intact. Once Percy slipped his D-Watch back on, Kudamon then left his current perch on Thor’s shoulders and returned to his place around Percy’s neck, the bullet weasel seemingly happy to be back where he belonged as the boy scratched under his chin._ _ _ _

____“So, what will you do now Percy?” Thor then asked, however before the teen could even answer, Piedmon had shown up and entered the room with the power of dramatic timing._ _ _ _

____“I believe I have an answer to that.” the clown said as he pulled out his sketchbook and began another round of exposition.“On the southern peninsula of the Ring of Love, there lies a cave. There, the first ruler, Ancient Kazemon, had hidden weapons destined to be used by the child who carried the Crest of Love: the armor Brisingamen and the sword Laevateinn. The armor was said to protect the wearer from even the hottest of fires, the coldest of blizzards and the strongest of blows, while the blade was believed to be able to cut through Chrome Digizoid, one of only five blades do so.”_ _ _ _

____“What are the other four?” Thor asked, while Piedmon smiled at the warrior._ _ _ _

____“Oh, just the blades I have on my back, that’s all.” the clown then said with a casual shrug, before continuing, “Moving on, Ancient Kazemon had hoped to pass on the ability of empowering the future Digital Knights to her successor, Venusmon, however that power only remained with the first master of each Ring, of which only Lord Seraphimon remains even today. Lady AncientKazemon then decided to hide her knight’s equipment, to protect it from those who would try to claim it in the event of her death and misuse them for selfish purposes. However, before she vanished, it was made known that the only way her knight could even gain his or her equipment at all, was if their heart was so cold, that it still burned with passion.”_ _ _ _

____“As I understand it,” Percy then said as he crossed his arms, “when it comes to metaphors, cold hearts tend to refer to people who don’t show emotion, or are just a bunch of arseholes who don’t care for anything, while a burning heart is one that’s used for overzealous, so this might mean that if I want to get the gear, I’m going to have to be passionate about being a complete arse or something.”_ _ _ _

____“Or perhaps, it could mean something else in your case.” Thor pointed out, “You are part frost giant, and they normally have literal hearts of ice, and yet your human side gives it a sort of fire.”_ _ _ _

____“True.” Percy said, “Like that explanation a lot more than mine, really. I don’t think I’d like being a complete tool after seeing how Esteban acted when I was on trial and all that.”_ _ _ _

____“So, I take it you are willing to go get them, Sir Percy?” Piedmon then asked with a smile as he put the sketchbook away, “They may be useful in the battle against Lillithmon, and the rescue of Miss Sheena.”_ _ _ _

____“Just one more question really,” Percy then said with a grin, “When do we leave?”_ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this was one of my favorite chapters to write. Why? Because 1) Loki got to ham it up before turning into the God of Stories and 2) I got to write the scars Percy got on his face and also reveal what's going to happen next in the story. 
> 
> Mainly the part with Loki. Good gods that was fun to write! Especially when he tore Odin a new one and also got to go into his little spiel about lies and stories. Then again, Loki in general is just... well, fun. 
> 
> Also, yes, Loki is literally bearing the Crest of Miracles on his back. Why does he have and how did he even get it in the first place? That's a secret for now, but Loki does have a role beyond being Percy's grandpa and Thor's brother/arch enemy. Well, ex-arch enemy I guess, but still. 
> 
> Also, I'm not the only one who thinks the crest looks like a dragon's foot, right? 
> 
> Now, about the gear Percy's going to go get? Well, they're both tied to Norse Mythology, so... time for a lesson from your friendly neighborhood Mythology Nut!
> 
> Brisingamen, while armor here, was originally a necklace worn by Freyja in Norse Myth. Where did it come from? Well... let's just say that Freyja had to sleep with four dwarves for it, then Loki swiped it for Odin after being well, Loki and watching the deal go down (in the original mythology, Loki had habit of being around when there's a chance he can cause trouble. Call it plot sense or something, I dunno.) Freyja had to bargin with Odin to get it back, and she did. Loki also stole it again for kicks that led to him and Heimdall fighting each other as seals, and later Loki simply asked to borrow it when he told her a giant that had swiped Mjolnir had wanted her as his bride, and Loki's plan to disguise Thor as Freyja to get it back. Freyja agreed, and so Thor got to dress in drag. Of course, while the armor named for the thing has special powers, the necklace it's named for... doesn't do squat really and just looks nice. The necklace also acts as Freyja's symbol, much like Mjolnir represents well, Thor.
> 
> Now, as for Laevateinn? That's Loki's sword. It's name means "Damage Twig", and unfortunately, all that's known about it is that it's Loki's, and he keeps it in a chest with nine locks that's guarded by Surtr's consort Sinmara. In the comic Agent of Asgard, Loki can just summon it when he needs it and other than that? There's not much else to it. Of course, since the original Brisingamen and Laevateinn are back in Asgard, once Percy gets the Digital Versions, he may need to rename them if he's able to take them back to Earth with him. Mainly just to avoid confusion later on.
> 
> Now that that's over, the bit after Piedmon's explanation about the gear? I swear Percy was channeling a bit of the tenth doctor there. 
> 
> Anyway, Next time: Road Trip!


	11. All Aboard the Road Trip Express!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy, Piedmon, Kudamon, Bruce, FanBeemon and Thor head out on their quest to retrieve Brinsingamen and Laevateinn. Guest appearance made by Miku Hatsune.

Percy Black was looking forward to this morning as he walked towards the entrance of the ElDradimon ruins with his partner Kudamon around his neck, and his guide on this mission, Piedmon, by his side. Both had stocked up on supplies for the coming trip, and Beezlemon had also managed to “unground” Percy after the boy snuck out to try and rescue Sheena, but instead coming back with the Asgardian hero known as Thor. Of course, Percy did nearly get himself killed during the rescue, forcing Piedmon to bring them back to base, but now that he had recovered, it was time for them to go get some new toys for the young Knight of Love. Once they reached the entrance however, the three travelers stopped to make sure they had everything they needed and once that was done, were about to head out on their journey.

Unfortunately, before they could even step outside the base, they were delayed a little longer as they heard foot steps and buzzing behind them. Both Percy and Piedmon turned- Kudamon currently resting on his usual perch of Percy’s shoulders, only to see Thor, Bruce and FanBeemon heading towards them. Young Bruce carried his backpack while his digimon partner carried a black doctor’s bag- most likely so Bruce wouldn’t have to carry all of their things. Thor on the other hand, only had Mjolnir hanging from his right wrist, while a bag was slung across his left shoulder that was apparently filled with supplies for the wilderness. As for the hero’s trademark cape, it was awkwardly flowing behind him and thanks to the bag he now carried, it was slightly pressed down on one side.

“Hey Percy!” Bruce then said excitedly, “FanBeemon and I heard you were leaving on a mission, and well… we wanted to come too! Valkyrimon even gave me some extra healing supplies, just in case we needed them!”

“Yeah,” FanBeemon said, “and we ran into Thor on the way out, and well… turns out he wants to come along too! Like, it’s actually totally awesome that a power house like him wants to help, right?”

Percy, Piedmon, Kudamon and even Thor then looked at the bee, who seemed to be kind of off with how he actually talked. Well, when he did at all anyway. In fact, hearing what sounded like talk from the eighties was actually a bit weird for the younger members of the group, as it really just made FanBeemon sound like an adult trying to talk with the younger generation.

“Verily…” Thor then said awkwardly, and even if his own speech was a bit outdated at times, he at least didn’t seem to try and use modern slang in an attempt to fit in and sound like an idiot when he messed up in the process. He then looked towards Percy and smiled, “After all, I cannot simply stay behind while you have all the fun.”

Seeing his grand-uncle’s blue eyes sparkle brightly with excitement at whatever battles were ahead of them, Percy sighed and turned around to have a private chat with Piedmon and Kudamon.

“Think I should turn him into a keychain for the duration?” Piedmon then whispered after he crouched down a bit to speak into the teen’s ear.

“Nah,” Percy whispered back after he took a moment to look back at the other group, “He’s still family, besides, you’d also have to do it to Bruce and FanBeemon.”

“True…” Piedmon then said quietly, “but we were supposed to go it alone, remember?”

“Yeah, I know. However…” Percy then took a second glance at Thor and Bruce, and sighed. “The extra help _could_ come in handy.”

“I agree.” Kudamon then whispered, “Besides, there is no telling what we will encounter along the way, is there Piedmon?”

With Piedmon silently admitting that Kudamon had a point, the first trio then broke their huddle and looked at the other three. After signalling for them to come on, it was practically decided that they would indeed travel together as a group of six, rather than anyone being left behind. So, they headed south together, moving through Turtle Valley and then going upward towards the top of the cliff. In fact, once they reached the base of that cliff after a couple of hours, Bruce and FanBeemon worked as a team to fly and climb up the side, followed by Thor carrying Percy and Kudamon as he let Mjolnir fly them upward, and finally Piedmon casually levitating upward and bringing up the rear and also carrying Bruce’s black bag. Mainly because Fanbeemon had his claws full carrying the boy.

Once the group reached the top however, Bruce sat down and caught his breath alongside Fanbeemon, while the others were still ready to go. Of course, as Bruce was the only pure human in the group, it made sense for them to take a quick break until the nine year old boy fully recovered. While they waited however, the group immediately noticed that outside of the valley, the ring of Love looked like a wasteland. Though Percy had seen that the northern half of the Ring was the same and Piedmon himself looked unaffected by the sight, Thor was a little taken aback by the view, and the sudden rise in temperature. As for Bruce and FanBeemon, they looked a bit heartbroken in all honesty.

“Why is the Ring so dead looking, Piedmon?” Bruce then asked, causing the magical clown to sigh.

“Well, the duty of the Ring of Love’s ruler is to use their power to make the land flourish. However, ever since Princess Venusmon had been turned to stone by that wicked witch Lillithmon, the land itself has begun to perish, and so it has become a wasteland and will remain this way until Venusmon is returned to normal.” Piedmon then explained, before looking heartbroken, “It’s a shame really… to see such a beautiful country turn into such a barren realm. Turtle Valley- where the Resistance is currently located, and a handful of other areas are all that’s left alive for now, but if Lillithmon isn’t defeated in time, then they too, will wither into nothing.”

“How long will this trip take then, if we’re in a hurry?” Bruce then asked, looking quite concerned as he stood up.

“Well, on foot… about two months before using a Gate disk to return, at best.” Piedmon then said, causing the youngest of the group to look even more worried.

“But, what if the base gets into big trouble while we’re gone!?” the glasses wearing blond then asked while tightly squeezing the straps on his backpack. “Isn’t there a way to travel faster?”

“Now, now,” Piedmon then said with a smile as he reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his many, many key chains he had decided to take along with him on their mission, “What sort of performer would I have been, if didn’t happen to have a quick way to travel?”

Giving a wink, Piedmon then placed the keychain on the ground next to him and after making sure it was positioned parallel to the group and taking a step back, he snapped his fingers. Next, in a puff of pink smoke, a large blue and silver train engine with golden pipes along its side appeared. Most interestingly however, was the fact the front end of the machine had hands holding onto a gigantic spiked wheel, while it’s unicorn-like head seemed to lack a mouth while its red eyes blinked and looked about the area. When it’s gaze landed on Piedmon however, it suddenly seemed quite happy before it actually managed to speak rather clearly.

“Piedmon, my old friend!” the train said in a gentle, yet still manly voice, “Do you need me to take you somewhere after so long?”

“Of course.” the clown then said, before turning towards the group and introducing his apparent friend. “Gentlemen, this is GranLocomon, my personal transport back when I was still a traveling act, and also my first friend when I entered the Digital World.”

“So, you have a train.” Percy said flatly while Bruce looked quite excited as he started bouncing up and down a bit, surprising even FanBeemon for a moment before Bruce had to stop and catch his breath again and Thor just looked interested more than anything. Percy then looked around the wasteland and frowned as he noticed something rather important for a train was missing, before he spoke again, “Did you forget that trains normally need a _track_ to move on before they can even go anywhere?”

“Ah, normally your average Locomon and every form of Trailmon will need a track.” Piedmon then said with a grin as he patted the giant engine’s side, “But GranLocomon can make his own track anywhere he needs to, which is why he and I have been able to travel as much as we have in the past, as there are some areas where other train digimon can’t normally reach. However, when I entered Venusmon’s service as her court magician, well, GranLocomon volunteered to remain with me as a keychain, until I needed him again.”

“Only because I figured she’d get tired of you and kick you out eventually.” the train then said jokingly, causing both him and Piedmon to laugh.

“I’m actually surprised she _didn’t!_ ” Piedmon then said with a grin, “Normally when we’ve overstayed our welcome, we’d be chased out of town!”

“Piedmon,” Thor then said as the two old friends had another laugh, “Have any other digimon ‘volunteered’ to become a keychain?” Piedmon then stopped and blinked, before dramatically spreading his hands and sighing.

“Sadly no,” he then said, “In fact, most of my collection consists of digimon that tried to kill me for one reason or another. Nothing truly vile mind you, just the occasional post war paranoia, or spotlight stealing envy. Once in a while an assassination attempt for being in the wrong place at the wrong time or for hearing something I wasn’t meant to. I believed some time to stop and think about things would help them become much more amicable. While the assassins do get protection from their employers or guilds who don’t tolerate failure.”

“Post war-” Thor began to say, only to be cut off by the clown.

“Alright everyone, all aboard! We do have a set of equipment to retrieve, after all!”

GranLocomon then opened up his side, revealing the interior of a luxury train car with comfortable couches lining the sides and facing the center, some very nice looking coffee tables, a bar, and also a second car with a few soft beds for when passengers needed to sleep. As Thor watched the boys get on board, he followed after them while also realizing that it definitely wouldn’t be wise to try and make an enemy of Piedmon. Of course, once he was on board and the car closed behind them, he immediately noticed that the controls weren’t normal for a train, as instead of buttons, levers or even a furnace as an engine, there were instead black and white piano keys spread across the front of the car, while just above them was a map of the current ring and a few knobs, and only one lever off to the side.

“Piedmon.” Thor then said as he sat down and watched the clown take his place at the keyboard and started using the map- which was apparently a touch screen, to input their destination and make their route.

“Yes, what is it?” the clown then said as he worked.

“Just, how exactly does one pilot GranLocomon?”

“Oh, it varies from train to train really.” Piedmon then explained, “Most use a furnace or a basic set of controls to run them, but this GranLocomon is special as he requires someone who knows a thing about music to successfully get him running.”

“Only because as a Locomon I accidentally ran into a few music programs and voice synthesizers in Digital Space!” GranLocomon said, his voice coming through some speakers on the car ceiling overhead, “I didn’t think it’d change my controls after I digivolved and that it’d keep me waiting in the main station in the Center of Light for years before you showed up, _your highness._ ”

“Very funny.” Piedmon then said, making a bit of noise on the keyboard to show he wasn’t exactly amused with the train’s nickname for him.”Just remember that if I hadn’t come along 30 years ago, you’d be rusting up while Plutomon corrupted everything after his coup months ago!”

“Oh fun, me getting nowhere because of a tyrant.” the train then said, “Least you didn’t use me while acting as Lillithmon’s butler. I don’t think I could even take a group of Vilemon messing up the bar, the extra programs I ended up loading into my core before you met the Princess, or even worse, my upholstery!”

“Can we just get going!?” Percy said as he laid back on one of the seats, and as Piedmon immediately took the hint, started playing a fast paced song on the keyboard, causing the engines to roar to life as steam escaped the pipes outside the engine, and also played the song for everyone outside to hear as GranLocomon started moving. As he kept playing, Piedmon took a moment to wave one hand towards the bar, changing some of what was available to something the boys could drink without getting inebriated as he continued to play. As for the displayed map over the keyboard, it shrank away to the side, and showed the view through GranLocomon’s eyes. This caused the passengers to see that the train was actually creating a rail road of light as it moved over the Ring of Love, even rising up as the magical engineer played away at the keyboard. In fact, to make things even more interesting a hologram appeared near the back of the train that resembled a human girl with long teal hair that were tied back into a pair of pigtails that reached down to her ankles, and also wore an old fashioned conductor’s uniform as she sang along to the tune in Japanese.

“GranLocomon has a songstress?” Thor asked, rather surprised and thankful that the Allspeak translated the lyrics into something he could understand.

“Hey, I did say I ran into a few voice synthesizers, didn’t I?” GranLocomon said, “Not to mention I have more than just miss Hatsune here as well!”

“I see…” Thor said in a bit of confusion, while Percy sighed.

“Hatsune’s a Vocaloid, Thor- that’s the type of computer program she is. They’re pretty much used to add vocals to songs people compose in their spare time, or well, can be used to cover other songs that are already published. Got quite a following really.” Percy said, before looking a bit confused as he listened to the song.“Though, I never really understood what some of them were even singing before when it came to the songs that weren’t in English.”

“That is the Allspeak you’re experiencing.” Thor then said, with a smile. “It allows myself, your grandfather Loki, and now you to understand any language and also allows for others to understand us. I assume it must have activated after you were injured, as well as your regenerative ability with how quickly you healed, even with the Cutemon’s help.”

“Wait, are you pulling my leg, here?” Percy said with surprise, before looking at the collar his digimon partner wore, “Drat, still can’t read the Digi-code on Kudamon’s neck.”

Thor let out a laugh then, “It’s called the All _speak_ , not the All _Read,_ Percy.”

“Would have been nice if it included written languages.” Percy then said flatly as he crossed his arms, before he noticed that Bruce and FanBeemon were busy looking out the window and watching the landscape rush by with glee. In fact, for the next few minutes, the car was silent except for Piedmon’s playing and Miku’s singing as Percy let his thoughts wander to the adventure ahead. He was worried they’d fail, and as the boy frowned at the idea he also became worried about what would happen if they never returned due to having died, or worse, captured by Lillithmon’s agents. Not to mention he was thinking about someone else as well at the moment.

Of course, Bruce then noticed that something was bothering the older boy and spoke up.

“What’s the matter Percy?” he asked, causing the teen to blink as he sat up.

“Just worried about Sheena.” Percy said, “She’s the reason I’m going out to grab the equipment in the first place, and well… why Piedmon and I snuck out when we rescued Thor. I’m just hoping she’s okay right now.”

“I’m sure she’s a-ok!” Bruce said with a smile as he tried to cheer up his fellow Digital Knight, “When we find her and get her back to base, we can even have a Welcome Back party!”

Seeing the younger boy seem optimistic about the situation caused Percy to smile a bit. “Thanks Bruce. You’ve got a good heart, you know that, right?”

Percy’s kind words however, led to Bruce giving a sad smile to the older boy. Before the nine year old could speak up though, something unexpected started to happen as Bruce’s crest started glowing with a soft lavender light on his D-Watch’s screen, leading to both him and FanBeemon to look rather excited.

“Oh wow!” Bruce said, while FanBeemon started buzzing happily, “FanBeemon, we’ve unlocked your ultimate level! I wonder what it would look like? Do you have any idea?”

“None at all!” FanBeemon then said, landing beside his partner and looking quite embarrassed as he blushed, “I mean, I was just a radical worker in my old life, and I never even _got_ to digivolve into Waspmon until after I met you, either. So, I’m wondering what I’ll turn into past Champion too. In fact, reaching Ultimate, and even Mega Level seems like the most _totally excellent_ thing in the world, right Dude?”

“I think so.” Bruce said with a nervous laugh, mainly because he was not well versed in 80s slang.

Thor however, had been listening up until then and found some of FanBeemon’s words to be odd, though two words managed to stick out to him. As he also remembered how Kudamon and Dorumon had acted back in the base, he decided to speak.

“FanBeemon, what exactly do you mean by old life?”

“Oh that? I was just a worker in the Ring of Kindness’ Grand Hive.” FanBeemon then said as it crossed his front and middle legs as he sat down, the other two just hanging loosely in front of him on the seat, “FanBeemon like me would stay inside and build it up and expand while the outside was guarded by totally bodacious digimon like Waspmon, Kabuteimon and Kuwagamon- that last one being like, totally hard to beat for most digimon.”

“Why’s that?” Bruce asked, while Thor and now Percy listened in.

“Because their exoskeleton’s strength was a bit too high for a champion digimon, that some consider it bogus.” FanBeemon said, “Even our leader joked that Kuwagamon were unbeatable!”

“Your leader?” Thor said, causing FanBeemon to look a bit happy, though he couldn’t really smile due to his mouth opening sideways.

“Our most excellent leader was named MetallifeKuwagamon who ruled the ring awesomely for as long as I can remember.”FanBeemon then said, “Hivemaster Meta was a pretty cool dude, and I even met him in person once thanks to Bro! Though, the other workers didn’t like me much for it when they found out.”

“Why not?” Percy asked next, his partner looking up with interest now, “I take it your brother was pretty important, so why get flack for it?”

“That’s because Bro was TigerVespamon, Meta’s second in command, and leader of the Royal Commandos. He practically raised me from an egg and well, I wanted to be totally awesome just like him!” FanBeemon then answered very enthusiastically "In fact, he was kind of like you Thor, all brave and heroic, and never wanted to run away from a fight, even if it’d be his final one!” The Asgardian then chuckled and smiled, glad to know that even the Digital world had heroes like himself to protect the weak.

“So what happened to him?” Bruce asked, causing FanBeemon to look a bit a bit frightened.

“SkullScorpionmon attacked the Hive.” the insect then said, “I… I remember seeing his Shadramon burn their way in, and start torching the place. TigerVespamon was fighting their boss when I was captured and thrown into the brawl. SkullScorpionmon had heinously decided to try and kill me, but.. well, TigerVespamon got in the way, and took the claw blade trough the chest. It was awful, and I was so scared, that I couldn’t even move and well… SkullScorpionmon pushed his claw through him and skewered me too and we were deleted together. That’s the last thing I remember though. I was only a worker like I said, so I never had to fight before then.”

Kudamon however, seemed rather concerned at his fellow digimon’s story, but decided to help finish the story after he left his perch and landed in Percy’s lap. “I and the other Royal Knights heard about that event. MetallifeKuwagamon mourned the loss of TigerVespamon and did everything he could to defeat the invaders on his own. When a single FanBeemon was born at the Primary Village a few months later however, he didn’t seem to remember anything about being TigerVespamon, and was thought to be the worker that died with him. MetallifeKuwagamon then passed on his title to another friend of his, JewelBeemon.”

“Oh, I remember him!” FanBeemon said as he cheered up for a moment, “JewelBeemon was Big Bro’s closest friend next to MetallifeKuwagamon. Though, it’s totally bogus that Bro never really got to remember his old life at rebirth, but at least the Ring’s in good hands.” the insect then looked a bit confused as his antennae wiggled a bit, one going down and the other rising.

“Just, what year was it when that happened again? I kind of lost track while waiting for rebirth.”

“1985, about 30 years ago.” Kudamon then said, causing FanBeemon to fall over in shock.

“1985!?” he said, “GREAT SCOTT, I’M OLD!” The insect digimon then started twitching like mad, causing his partner Bruce to panic and try to calm his partner down while FanBeemon simply started mumbling incoherently about overdue library books, Deloreans, and a barrage of slang from the 1980s.

While the shocked bee was having a fit, Kudamon then calmly spoke up again and asked Percy a question.

“Percy, you used to live in a place called ‘Cardiff,’ didn’t you? Why did you leave it exactly?”

Percy groaned and picked the bullet weasel by his collar and set him down to the side, before the teen stood up for a moment to stretch. “You don’t need to know that…”

“Oh?” Thor then said, “It seems you are quite embarrassed by it, my Grand-Nephew.”

“Stone the crows,” Percy said, “Do I _really_ need to tell you about it?”

By now, Bruce and FanBeemon- after the latter came out of his shock, became quite intrigued as they both answered “Yes.” at the same time, followed by Piedmon adding in a “It seems everyone is curious, Sir Percy, so do enlighten everyone, won’t you?”

As the clown hadn’t even stopped his work playing at GranLocomon’s keyboard to look at them, it seemed that Piedmon had done this sort of thing many, many times in the past. Of course, Percy also realized that he was outvoted and sighed.

“Fine.” the punk finally said, “A few months ago Gramps was visiting me, mum and dad in our flat in Cardiff and he showed me an illusion of a Bilgesnipe. This then led to me having to try and copy it and while I succeeded while I was in my room… at the same time I somehow managed to bring in a real one out in the street. School had just let out for the Summer Holiday, so the neighborhood was starting to empty, but well… then the monster ran towards the city and managed to involve Captain Britain to get rid of it.”

“Captain Britain?” Thor, Bruce, and the digimon all asked.

“The UK’s version of Captain America, except instead of a Super Soldier Serum, he’s got magic, and didn’t spend time as an ice pop. Also, uses a Quarterstaff and sometimes a sword. Supposedly he has this weird connection to the country and won’t die as long a Britain exists.” Percy explained, “Anyway, he almost got himself killed by the Bilge Snipe until you came along to wrestle it down and get it back to Asgard, Thor.”

“Oh!” Thor then said as he remembered that day, “So that was how another Bilgesnipe- besides Bilgy back in Avengers Tower, ended up on Midgard. That has honestly been troubling me, and while I do appreciate that you told the truth about your deed, I suggest you avoid summoning creatures in the future, you seem to cause trouble each time you do so.“

“He’s summoned things before?” asked Bruce, causing Percy to quickly shake his head.

“Don’t worry about it Bruce,” Percy then said before giving Thor a quick glare, “Besides, I didn’t do it on purpose. And even after the incident, mum had to move us to the States to avoid the neighbors getting nosy, or worse Captain Britain coming for a visit. Thankfully, everyone believed her claiming that ‘New York had to be more sane than bloody Cardiff,’ otherwise there’d be a lot more questions being asked than packing being done.”

With Percy’s story over, and Thor seeing the boy was pink with embarrassment over the matter, the Asgardian hero then looked towards Kudamon and once again thought about the conversation held between the little beast and Dorumon.

“Kudamon.” Thor then said, “About your own past life, just what exactly had happened when you originally fell?”

Kudamon however, said nothing as it got up and scampered towards the sleeping car past the bar, only to stop and look at the group as he slid the door open with his tiny arm.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” he then said as he slipped into the next car, “Let’s just focus on the mission at hand.”

Kudamon then closed the door behind him, leaving all but Piedmon and GranLocomon looking concerned. Percy himself was also the only one to speak, not having known that his partner apparently had his own sore spots.

“Kudamon?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first of all yes. I did decide to include a Vocaloid cameo. Miku's not going to be the only one either as two more will show up in a later chapter. Now, why did I do this? One, because I thought it'd be funny, and two, because I needed something to show Percy experiencing the Allspeak, and just give him and Thor something to talk about it. As for when GranLocomon got vocaloids? It was before Piedmon met Venusmon, and the guy ran through some extra data floating around while he and Piedmon were traveling. Kind of uploaded onto his systems because of it.
> 
> As for Bruce's reaction when Percy told him he had a good heart? Well, think about how he also only jumped up and down a bit before he needed to catch his breath, and go from there.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter also shows FanBeemon getting his own characterization what with the 80s slang, and also his backstory. Though, I did have to look up a dictionary for well, the slang used at the time. And yes, I am guilty of slipping in a Back to the Future Reference. When I originally wrote this chapter... well, the movie was on TV and it was playing while I was writing. 
> 
> The other thing we learn this chapter of course, is what happened to cause Percy to move. Also, Bilgy is Thor's pet bilgesnipe that appeared a couple of times in the cartoon Avengers Assemble. Unfortunately, the one Percy accidentally summoned was a wild bilgesnipe. Also, Captain Britain is an actual thing from the comics.
> 
> Finally, this chapter shows that Percy hasn't exactly told the other kids about how this adventure in the digital world seems to be his fault yet. Why? Well, he's waiting for the right moment in all honesty, though whether or not this is going to bite him in the ass again... is yet to be revealed.
> 
> Next time: The start of a sub-arc, a village of magic, and Kudamon's cause of death revealed. Also Anubismon.


	12. Prelude of the Past.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the Road Trip to AncientKazemon's last known location, our heroes make a pit stop in Little Witchelny. While Piedmon hides out in GranLocomon, Percy, Thor, Bruce, Kudamon and FanBeemon meet a rather important figure in the digital world, and learn some things.

“Man, we’ve covered a lot of ground in a short time, but… does Lillithmon even send minions down south?” Percy said, “I’m not trying to complain, but we haven’t even been attacked yet and well… it’s kind of dull.”

While no one had argued with the teen, the fact that it had only been a day since their road trip began didn’t really help matters. Of course, when Granlocomon started slowing down, the passengers on board wondered if something was going on.

“I’m starting to run out of energy Piedmon.” GranLocomon then said, “If I don’t get a chance to rest soon, I may end up breaking down.”

Piedmon, seeing through the train digimon’s eyes by looking at the screen over the keyboard controls, soon spotted a village up ahead, and figured it’d be a decent place to stop for a break. “GranLocomon, can you hold out long enough to get us closer to that village up ahead?”

“I think so.” GranLocomon said, and the train then slowly rolled ahead before coming to a stop about an hour later outside a village that had a lake, a windmill, a inactive Volcano, and a small crater around it. Of course, Piedmon immediately noticed the castle at the very back and at first thought nothing of it, before he noticed the sign just outside the Digital Train. Upon seeing it though, Piedmon then stiffened at the name, before relaxing a bit as he looked to the rest of his passengers: Percy Black, Bruce Davidson, Kudamon, FanBeemon and Thor.

“Well, it seems this place is called ‘Little Witchelny.’ Why don’t you go out and look around while I stay here to see if GranLocomon needs any maintenance.” Piedmon then said with a smile and hid his discomfort about where the group had ended up, “He has been out of use for a while, and his keyboard may need a bit of tuning as well.”

“Are you sure?” Percy then asked, having thought that Piedmon usually enjoyed going into town and performing for a crowd as the teen thought about the stories the clown had told him.

“Oh, quite sure!” Piedmon said with a smile, “I’ll be here if you need anything and besides, GranLocomon is my oldest friend, and I would hate him breaking down because his gears weren’t oiled, or his keys weren’t properly tuned.”

“If you say so…” Percy said with uncertainty after Bruce, FanBeemon and Thor had left the train while Kudamon rested on Percy’s neck. “See you later then.”

“Indeed.” Piedmon said as he waved goodbye to the young Knight of Love, and once the doors closed behind him, the clown then groaned as he sat down in front of the controls, took his mask off, and held his face in his hands.

“I truly did not expect this…” he said to himself, “Of all the places to come across, it had to be this one! I just pray that the locals don’t realize Percy and the others know me personally.”

“Something wrong, my friend?” GranLocomon said through his interior speakers, just so that anyone who was walking past the train outside wouldn’t hear them.

“That village.” Piedmon then said as he spread his fingers enough to at least show one red eye, “From the name alone, I can tell that it’s filled with settlers from my old home world, and while I’ve not set foot in Witchelny in over forty years, I have a sinking feeling that had I went with the others, my very presence there could get them in trouble, or worse, possibly killed. I on the other hand, would definitely be in trouble and killed.”

“Well, you are a banished prince,” GranLocomon said, “but perhaps the locals won’t be aware of your history, much less be able to recognize you.”

“Wishful thinking.” Piedmon then said flatly, moving a hand to look towards the door leading out of the engine room and into the town itself, almost expecting some villager to knock out of curiosity, and also showing part of the face beneath his black and white mask. “Honestly GranLocomon, I’ve told you once, and I shall tell you again. I am _hated_ by the people of Witchelny as the _Prince of Ruin_ and I was blamed for that entire war my brother started when he misunderstood the point of punishment. Then again, Aldamon did try to explain the truth that it was all his fault but alas, the whole of Witchelny- except for myself and perhaps anyone banished before our adoption by Medieval Dukemon, are so blindly devoted to their king that they refused to believe it. Aldamon actually had to banish me to the Digital World in order to keep me from being killed by a mob!”

“Things can change over time.” GranLocomon then said, “After all, when we first met, you were such a cynical digimon that you couldn’t even understand why people said ‘Thank you’ after you helped them. Not to mention you never understood your brother had been kind to you back then, or even things like friendship, gratitude, praise, and especially simple compliments.”

“Yes, yes, and you taught me _all_ about those.” Piedmon said snidely, “But then again, can you blame me for not knowing after all I’ve been through? Spend a few centuries in Witchelny with everyone hating you to the point they chastise you just for trying to help them, and you would have been the same.”

“So you’ve said before.” GranLocomon said, his eyes rolling as he had apparently heard the complaint hundreds of times, “But again, the digimon of Witchelny were stubborn morons from what you’ve told me about them. Especially when it came to how they treated you and your brother so noticeably different. Not to mention I’ve already said that things can change, perhaps after your banishment, some digimon actually supported you positively, but were banished as well, leading to the founding of the village. There had to have been _someone_ other than your brother who knew you had nothing to do with the war.”

“Now _that_ is definitely a terrible joke.” Piedmon then said, “Supporting a Fallen Prince like myself in _Witchelny?_ You’re just being optimistic now, if you think something as impossible as _that_ could actually occur.”

“Nothing is absolute, my friend.” GranLocomon said, just before Piedmon stood up, slipped his mask back on and after he summoned forth a kit for maintaining pianos, he started getting to work on his friend’s controls.

~~000~~

Meanwhile within the village, Percy, Thor and the rest of those that left the train were walking through the village, taking note that once they reached the main square, the buildings were split into four different colors: red, yellow, blue and green, and that the locals consisted of mainly digimon that seemed mystical or demonic. There was even one that simply looked like a white clothed and cleaned up version of Tandy’s partner Wizardmon, but they figured it wasn’t something to think too hard about.

Of course, they had also soon discovered why Piedmon didn’t want to come along, as posted all about town was a poster saying “Never Forget” that displayed an exaggerated picture of the magical clown looking practically devilish as he loomed over a battlefield, a grinning mouth full of sharp teeth as he seemed to be a puppeteer for both sides. While Percy was tempted to tear down the poster that demonized his friend, Thor had to stop him before he did so, before muttering that the act might cause trouble. Combined with the fact that some of the locals were looking at them with suspicion, Percy realized Thor had a point.

That however, didn’t stop the locals from whispering about them.

_“See that big warrior with the hammer?”_

_“Yeah, he looks like he might have come to kill King Aldamon. We only lost Medieval Dukemon last year to that monster of a Royal Knight. I’d rather not go into another bout of mourning.”_

_“What about the others? That kid with the white hair feels like he has ties to Aquary, but I feel like there’s a bit of Eneruge in him as well.”_

_“Water and Fire used by the same mage? They’d need the other two elements to even be able to cast any spells! I’ll admit, that the ferret is adorable where it is, though that boy’s clothes makes him look like a beggar.”_

_“The little one with the bug seems adorable though.”_

_“True, he’s probably the most harmless of the lot. Not like he’ll turn into a dragon or something, right? That bug though is kind of weird though.”_

Percy then felt Kudamon snuggle closer to his neck, apparently feeling uneasy about the town as the teen did his best to calm his partner down- especially when he heard the bullet weasel start to growl at being called adorable. Fanbeemon however, only stumbled mid-flight after being called weird.

Before they could say anything however,, the group of travelers were then witness to a fight breaking out in front of a store. The Owner was a humanoid looking crow in purple and silver armor, a simple green apron, white pants, a yellow crystal on his helmet, red eyes, and holding a pair of golden blades. As for the one he was facing, that one looked like a red winged demon in nothing by a pair of black pants some gold armor on his knees and claws, and a golden mask that showed the digimon had six eyes. The demon also had wild, white hair and a trail of red gems fused into his body from the left shoulder and going down towards the waist. Whether it went beyond that none of the outsiders wanted to know, but the digimon that made his way through the crowd to stand between them before a brawl could break out spoke up to get everyone’s attention.

“What in the dark area is going on here?” said the stranger, who looked like a winged, jackal headed digimon that wore white pants under a loincloth, gold sandals, bracelets with red triangles, and also golden armlets decorated with a single emerald. His large, three fingered hands were just part of thick arms that became rather skinny just above the elbow, and the exposed skin on his lower arms and also chest were covered in purple markings. The Digimon’s head looked like he was wearing a purple mask- though in reality he wasn’t as his ears twitched in annoyance, as well as red markings that brought out his blue eyes. The digimon’s red and gold Egyptian looking collar shone in the sunlight, but the fact he looked rather grumpy combined with how he was also resting a baseball bat made of petrified wood on his shoulders actually made the figure more intimidating than magnificent.

The two combatants then stood up straight and bowed the the newcomer, apparently an important figure, before the crow started to speak.

“Mayor Anubismon,” said the crow, “NeoDevimon here has stolen a potion from my shop!” 

“And I’ve told you already Karatenmon, it wasn’t me!” the demon then snapped back, before the crow waved his hand and sent a brief blast of wind to knock NeoDevimon down.

The two digimon then started arguing, while Anubismon rolled his eyes and looked around the group before spotting something interesting. Grabbing Karatenmon’s head in one of his hands, he then directed the crow’s attention to a small digimon wearing a black mask with a red eye painted on one side and a green eye painted on the other, little blue bat wings wrapped around his waist and chained together by a gold trinket with a blue gem, black pants and purple shoes with red claws. The little digimon also had blue skin, a fuzzy neck, and a green eye on the palm of one hand, while the grinning digimon also held a bottle displaying a tag on its neck that depicted a few numbers and also Karatenmon’s face to signify where it came from.

“There’s your thief, bird brain.” Anubismon said flatly before using his other hand to pick up the small digimon, “Now Dracmon, hand over the stolen potion.”

“Y-Yessir!” Dracmon said, realizing its blunder and held the potion out so that Karatenmon could take it. Once that was done and Anubismon let them go, the crow then apologized to the accused party, who then punched the crow in the face for the accusation, and the gathered crowd dispersed as those involved in a near fight went back to their own business. It was then that Anubismon seemed to sense something as he noticed Percy and the others and walked towards them.

“Greetings travelers.” Anubismon said, though his voice made him sound slightly annoyed about it, “Looking to move in, or just passing through?”

“Merely passing through, good mayor.” Thor said, holding his hand out in greeting as Anubismon then gave a sigh of relief and shook it. “Our friend GranLocomon needed a rest and our… conductor… had decided to stay within and see if the train was in need of any mechanical aid.”

Anubismon looked a bit amused as Thor seemed to have a bit of trouble finding the right words, while the boys knew that the Asgardian was most likely just trying to keep anyone from learning Piedmon was just outside of town. As the winged Jackal Man then looked at the boys, he then spoke. “You two don’t talk like he does, do you?”

“No sir.” Bruce said, while Percy added a “Nah, Thor’s just a bit old fashioned.” While the teen’s comment earned him a eye roll from his grand-uncle, Thor couldn’t help but smile a bit as he remembered a certain day where the Avengers had switched bodies and Hawkeye had complained about Thor’s vernacular. While the Asgardian noted that incident did help improve his understanding of modern sayings, he personally hoped to never go through that again.

“Right…” Anubismon said, “In any case, I am Anubismon, the mayor of Little Witchelny… which the five of you already may have known if you watched that little scene a few seconds ago.”

“Pretty much.” all but Kudamon and Thor said, causing the winged jackal to frown.

“Yeah… to be honest, I was kind of forced into the job after the people of Witchelny and their leader Aldamon decided to simply squat on my property, build their town, and then build their king a castle right next to my nice little house.” Anubismon said with a very annoyed look on his face as he thought about it, “Sure, I asked them politely to get off my property, but it seems Witchelny folk are the only thing more stubborn than a Myotismon getting deleted and staying that way. So, I had to make sure they don’t get into too many ‘battles’ until they decide to move again… even if it’s been _twenty five damn years_ now.”

As Anubismon had made air quotes as he mentioned a battle, Thor and Percy were too distracted to notice Bruce and FanBeemon becoming a bit uneasy as the mayor mentioned Myotismon. Mainly because they knew he may end up getting killed after a trial, and really hoped the first time was the charm when that day came. However, Bruce didn’t say anything about all that, and instead asked about something else.

“What happens when they battle?” said the young, glasses wearing blond, causing Anubismon to sigh.

“Then Voltamon gets involved and I have to endure a musical duel between citizens of Witchelny…” Anubismon then said, “And between you and me? Not all of them are what you would call ‘decent’ at best.”

“Who’s Voltamon?“ The group then asked, causing Anubismon to groan and cover his face with a large hand.

“You’ll find out in three, two, one and…. now.” was all the jackal said, just as the volcano near town exploded followed by the phantom sound of a hunting horn, guitars, violins, a cello and a set of drums being played as they turned their attention towards the mountain, and seeing that someone was riding what looked like a black unicorn digimon down the side of the erupting volcano while drinking from a chalice that- from what Thor could hear as the rider sang while making their way to the group, was filled with the laughter of small children. Eventually, the mystery digimon arrived and they saw that Voltamon- as they saw him dismount from the black unimon, was apparently the kind of being to engineer his own big entrances as he gazed at the volcano, snapped his fingers and returned everything to normal.

As for Voltamon’s appearance, he was a tall digimon that towered over Thor at what seemed to be nine feet. He had a top hat that was tilted to the side of his head that was decorated with a silver bat and a dark purple band with a white spiderweb pattern, and finally a long fiery peacock feather mixed in with a few smaller read ones. As for the rest of his outfit, he had on a white, almost flowing, shirt with a tight black vest and black leather pants decorated with metal musical notes and more bats, clawed gauntlets made of steel, brown, short heeled boots fitting for a pirate and a large leather belt around his waist decorated with clay skulls and a few clay dolls and figurines like what would be used for stop motion animation. The group also noted that Voltamon’s face was covered by a black, horned mask as his eyes glowed completely white, and along with the fangs, pointed ears, shaggy black hair, and bat wings, it was almost easy to miss the guitar he had on his back.

“Now then,” the classy looking digimon then said with a smile, “Who hasn’t heard of good old Voltamon?”

“Try the humans and the two digimon with me, Fan Boy.” Anubismon then said, apparently not a fan of the seemingly nice- if eccentric- digimon. Voltamon then looked down at the group, took a step back and took his hat off as he bowed.

“Greetings, then, I’m Voltamon.” he said once he stood up straight again and placed his hat back where it belonged, “I came to Little Witchelny about oh… a few years ago when a musician named Aurelio Volatire started posting his songs on a video site, and combined with the data collected from those, the posts of his fans and the general coolness of how he treats his fans, I was born. Though, for some reason I can’t stand some place called New Jersey. So, I probably shouldn’t try going there… may end up bombing it or something.”

“Ignoring that last part.” Anubismon said, before going on to explain more about the digimon to Percy and the others. “Anyway… uh… names?”

“Percy Black.” the teen then said as he crossed his arms, “The big guy’s Thor, the kid is named Bruce Davidson, and the digimon with us are FanBeemon and Kudamon.”

“Already knew the digimon thank you, I just wanted the rest.” Anubismon said with a smirk, “Anyway, Voltamon here- while the bane of my garden’s existence, is still the master musician of Little Witchelny and as Aldamon can’t judge while keeping himself locked up in the castle like a coward, Voltamon has to do the job and referee all musical battles between the locals.”

“Why music?” asked Thor as he crossed his arms and frowned in confusion, “Why not simple brute strength or skill?”

“Because Witchelny is a world of magic,” Anubismon said, while a small group of young digimon gathered around Voltamon to get autographs and keep the guy busy and quiet for now, “they think warriors are mostly idiots and savages, and since not all digimon from Witchelny can’t master more than one school, music gives them some equal ground. Especially since Aldamon’s usual sparring partner had mastered all four schools of magic, while the King himself mastered only one. So, the two needed something that wouldn’t end with Aldamon being creamed all the time before Witchelny’s destruction. They were just lucky the thing became popular enough to carry over with them.”

“What happened to Witchelny?” Percy then asked, which led to Anubismon and Voltamon looking at each other and shrugging to show they had no idea.

“Uh… Mister Anubismon?” Bruce then asked, thinking about what the jackal said earlier before Voltamon showed up, “If Aldamon is their king, why do you run the village as Mayor?”

“Because Aldamon has been a sulky pain in the ass ever since he got here, and the locals are using last year’s death of Medieval Dukemon as the reason he’s not even coming out… as convoluted as that is considering how long they’ve been here.” Anubismon said, before seeing that Kudamon had become quite grim. The jackal then looked towards Voltamon and spoke. “You, leave. I’m taking these travelers to my home as guests, there are some more things I want to chat about in private.”

“Okay, okay!” Voltamon said before hopping back on his steed and waving good bye to his fans as they scattered, and the classy looking digimon giving a big grin as he added, “Have fun telling about Sleipmon going nuts!”

Anubismon simply barked in what sounded like ancient Egyptian while shaking a fist at the fleeing Voltamon, and while Bruce couldn’t understand what he said, both Percy and Thor, unfortunately, did as the two became rather uneasy over what they heard. Once the jackal was done though, Anubismon then quickly led the travelers towards the castle which upon closer inspection, didn’t even have a front gate.

Anubismon however, had a humble little wooden house with a white picket fence next to the castle’s moat and unfortunately also had a rather crappy looking garden that looked like it was constantly crushed by something, judging by the bits of chrysanthemums, peace lilies and red spider lilies scattered about. As the Jackal invited the group in, and making sure they took off their shoes to avoid tracking dirt on his clean floors, Bruce had to stop and look at the castle, shuddering as he saw a shadow of some sort of monster in one of the windows that quickly vanished.

Once everyone was inside, Anubismon then started acting a bit off, as if worried about people listening in as he locked the door, shut the windows and closed the curtains, and also weaving a few spells he had learned from his town of squatters to sound proof the house to keep people from listening in outside. Once that was done, he then sat down with his guests, with Percy placing Kudamon down on the table between them before the little bullet weasel spoke.

“Lord Anubismon, you recognize me and FanBeemon as more than just ordinary digimon, don’t you?” he said, causing the jackal to nod.

“Why call him ‘Lord,’ little Kudamon?” Thor asked, “Is he not just the unwilling mayor of Little Witchelny?”

“Wasn’t always.” Anubismon said, “Before becoming Mayor, or even becoming the rather grumpy hermit I was when the town was founded, I used to be the Judge of all digimon that had died, back when the Digital World was still in one piece. My job was to either send digimon off to be reborn, or send them to the Dark Area- the Digital World’s version of hell, depending on their deeds in life. But, then, thanks to a _Yggdra-damned monkey_ unleashing Gulfmon before I could end the bastard with Ammit, the Rings were created, the Dark Area was destroyed, all hell broke loose and I now I just get to decide whether to let digimon be reborn or destroy them for good by feeding them to Ammit. Except… for nine digimon.”

“Let me guess,” Percy said, “The digimon partnered with the Digital Knights?”

“Bingo kid.” Anubismon said, “Each Digimon that came to me that was meant to be partnered with you nine kids meant to save the digital world- according to that old nut Baromon, had an anomaly either relating to their death, a disgrace that requires a very big form of redemption or something else I’m unsure about.”

“What was my anomaly, then?” FanBeemon asked, hoping to hear something interesting.

“Yeah… uh… I really haven’t managed to figure you out, FanBeemon.” Anubismon said, “What happened to make you stay put and TigerVespamon be reincarnated has been _bugging_ me for the past thirty years. For all I know, you’re just weird.”

As FanBeemon ended up falling onto the floor and twitch, no one was sure if it was because of the lack of answers, the pun, or Anubismon just calling the bug weird.

“And Kudamon?” Thor then asked, “What of him?”

“I… I was only here to investigate the castle as a few digimon reported it to be haunted.” Kudamon said before Anubismon had a chance to answer, “While I was still the Royal Knight Sleipmon, I came to Little Witchelny, and things went smoothly as I asked around and learned that their king sealed himself away for an unknown reason. However, I ended up getting infected by a monster called Parasimon, who drove me mad as it increased my power as I rampaged through the village while my puppeteer searched for Medieval Dukemon, who I was soon forced to battle. We both fought to our last, but I killed Medieval Dukemon, and the citizens of Witchelny minus Aldamon took their vengeance upon me in my weakened state immediately afterward.”

Once the digimon finished his tale, all was silent for a moment, before Anubismon spoke again.

“Yes, and Parasimon’s remaining data needed to be cleansed from your core and while it took a few months, I did get it cleaned out. However, your awareness during that incident formed the Anomaly.” the Judge of the Dead then told Kudamon, before going on to tell of the remaining anomalies, “Now then as for the other digimon, Owryumon was turned against his master by the sweet tongue of a demon digimon named Phelesmon, who has yet to meet me at this time, and so he may still be encountered in the future. Then, there was Belphemon wishing for redemption after his execution after the attack of the Seven Great Demon Lords.”

“Beezlemon told us about that!” Bruce said, causing Thor to look more confused.

“I have yet to hear of this.” the Asgardian said, but couldn’t ask as Anubismon gave the warrior a glare.

“You can learn about it later, on your own time.” he said, “Moving on, Dynasmon’s anomaly came from his sacrifice to protect some hot headed idiot digimon and a few Witchelny Citizens in the final battle of the war- before the Gulfmon incident, when he took on an impalement from Medieval Dukemon’s lance, ironically also named Dynas and the warrior and the weapon’s power were combined by the time I got the digi core- or soul of Dynasmon. King and QueenChessmon were before Dynasmon, and they had been humbled in their destruction as they had become lax in their rule, and well… their territory was invaded to make a long story short. Then before any of those was the Second Anomaly I faced, that of Alphamon’s.”

“Oh yes, I met Dorumon.” Thor said, “Quite a spirited digimon.”

“He was before he died as well.” Anubismon said with smile and a nod, “But, when he killed his brother- who had been corrupted by a malfunctioning Yggdrasil, Alphamon desired for a chance to one day work beside his dear brother as he killed himself with his own blade the moment he took his brother’s life.”

“Did you say Yggdrasil?” Thor then asked in surprise, only for Anubismon to nod as he gave the Asgardian a flat look of annoyance. “In Asgard, Yggdrasil is known as the world tree, and connected all nine realms as well. Is your Yggdrasil the same?”

“Nope.” Anubis said, “Here in the digital world, Yggdrasil is the central AI, and core system in charge of the digital world. Basically God since if he dies, no more digital world unless a new core AI takes over and remakes it. Before Alphamon’s reset, Yggdrasil was… not in a good place when the first anomaly appeared, but something happened that made him sane again after the reset. Not sure what though.”

Anubismon then glanced off to the side as his ears twitched. While everyone else noticed that their host had muttered something none of them could make out, no one could ask about it since someone spoke up in regards to something else.

“What was the first Anamoly then?” Kudamon asked, though he didn’t really look like he was listening at all so far. Anubismon however, was silent at first, before looking fearful and finally sad as he told the tale.

“The first anomaly belonged to Rhinemon, who was originally just a low ranking angelic digimon assigned to inspire creativity and also take care of the Primary Village- despite being a Mega Level. However, it was that same digimon that managed to defeat the first threat the digital world faced, the monster R-Zola.” Anubismon began, and actually shuddering at the name he spoke before he paused and actually went on to make a few gestures as if to ward off evil, “That evil caused Rhinemon to use up most of her digi-core to banish him, and create seven seals in the core of the Digital World to make sure he never returned. These Seven Seals of Rhine- which still protect us in this day and age, are part of what’s left of her, as the battle itself actually destroyed Rhinemon’s body in the process. But she would still not give up until Zola was gone for good and refused to come straight to me once her body was destroyed. This act of stubborness to save our world unfortunately corrupted her memory, requiring her to be reset… but sadly, there wasn’t even enough data left in her Core for her to even be returned to an egg, and so I kept it with me for a long time as the other anomalies showed up and kept the near dead core company. In fact, I would never have been able to do anything to restore Rhinemon’s data, had a stranger not arrived at my home about 13 years ago.”

“A stranger?” FanBeemon had then asked, looking curious, “What do you mean?”

“The Stranger, from what he told me, had been in a battle to the death in Yggdrasil’s core, keeping it safe from a spawn of… the monster… a virus called Hell’s Creed. After the battle, the dying Stranger then made a long journey to my home, leaving behind a part of himself in the form of a crest that was named for each Ring.” Anubismon said, “When he came to me, he knew he had reached his end as he arrived on my door step, just smiling at me when I asked him who he was, what his purpose had been, and how he came to find me. He told me he had no name to give, and that he walked all the way from his battle to my door step, as if something guided him there. His purpose was to destroy Hell’s Creed, and that he hoped he had deleted and purged the remnants of it like his Programmers had made him to do. He collapsed after that, and three final crests left his body: The Crest of Love, the Crest of Fate, and the Crest of Miracles. I know not where those final crests disappeared to after that since they flew out of the window before I could examine them, but I assume they shall reappear when needed.

“In any event, after I made his final moments as comfortable for the hero as possible, his remaining data was not enough to return him to life as a true digimon, and so… I chose to use what was left of the stranger’s to repair Rhinemon’s core. It was odd though, that the Stranger’s coding was quite similar to Rhinemon’s own, making it a Miracle of sorts that it was usable at all. But, even with all six cores at the time in one piece, they would not be reborn until a couple of months ago, exactly one year after Kudamon’s core joined them.”

With his story done, Anubismon’s guests were silent, taking in the information until Percy noticed a noise. Looking at his partner, he saw the little bullet weasel weeping and wondered how long he had been doing so.

“Kudamon, what’s wrong?” Percy said out of concern, causing the little digimon to turn and shout at his partner.

“ _Everything!_ ” Kudamon then screamed, “Everything is wrong! I… I never wanted to hurt anyone during that mission last year, and I disgraced myself, the Royal Knights, and defied my Creed to protect and never harm the innocent, while using Muspelhiemr Crossbow to fire the arrows Bifrost upon those wishing to corrupt and destroy the Digital World! Even if I was controlled by Parasimon… I… I _deserved_ my death! I shouldn’t have been reborn! I never _wanted_ to be reborn after what I did, especially if it meant being forced to go through it all again later!”

Percy, Thor, and Bruce were stunned as the normally stoic, if sometimes sarcastic Kudamon was now having a breakdown. While Percy and Bruce were worried about the poor digimon’s emotional state, Thor however, while worried, was more reeling from the fact that the digimon’s most powerful form apparently wielded a weapon named for the home of the demon Surtr, while firing arrows named for the rainbow bridge upon the wicked. Surprised that Sleipmon was apparently themed on more than his father’s steed- as he guessed from the name, he wondered just how the digimon would look when it reached that stage.

As for Kudamon however, the digimon then looked towards Anubismon, the little bullet weasel still trembling and crying as it spoke again.

“Why…” he said, “ _Why!?_ Why did I get the Anomaly that kept me from being reborn right away like the others? Why couldn’t another digimon other than me get a second chance at life that deserved it like, Medieval Dukemon?! Tell me Anubismon! Tell me why you didn’t let Ammit devour my core, why didn’t you just take out my anomaly and give it to another digimon?! Why did I come back? Why? Why!? _WHY!?_ ”

The digimon then just broke down crying, muttering “Why me?” again and again between sobs as the little digimon’s friends and especially his partner looked worried. Anubismon however, said nothing as he gently picked the little holy beast up and looked it in the eye, the Judge’s own blue eyes looking gentle and kind as Kudamon’s golden ones were turned orange with its tears as it wept, and sniffed a bit.

Then, Anubismon gently bopped Kudamon on the head, looking rather stern.

“Kuda- no, _Sleipmon._ ” Anubismon said, calling the digimon by its original name, “It was Parasimon, not you, that is to blame for Medieval Dukemon’s death. You shouldn’t feel guilty for being used as a tool against your will.”

“Not feel guilty?” Kudamon then said, stunned before he shouted again, “I can’t help but feel that way! Weren’t you listening when I said that possession was what I believe shamed the other Royal Knights? I almost started another war with the remaining citizens of Witchelny! After all that… I… I couldn’t bear to tell Alphamon or Dynasmon about what I did! My fellow Royal Knights among the other digimon partnered with the children would consider me an embarrassment even to our Founder, Imperialdramon the Paladin! I… I was one of the greatest Knights, and I ended up disgracing everyone with my crime! I used to be a warrior, a guardian, it was all I ever known! I… I couldn’t bring myself to even cry over it as I was trained to be strong, and yet… here I am, nothing more than a weak rookie who… who just can’t stop crying.”

The digimon then started sobbing again, causing Anubismon to gently cradle the little rookie and calm it down. Once the bullet weasel was calm enough to simply sniffle a bit, Anubismon spoke gently, like a parent would to explain things to their young child after they lost a relative or a close friend.

“There, there little knight.” Anubismon said, his tone quiet and sincere, “Your Anomaly didn’t come from Parasimon, as I only had to cleanse his data from your core. In fact, for once in your life, you’ve finally been able to do something the warrior you were forced to become so long ago could never do, and in fact, crying like the young Rookie you never got to be, made you manage to do more than you had ever done as Sleipmon.”

“Wh-What do you mean?” Kudamon asked, just as confused as everyone else.

“Your anomaly came from your forced digivolution to Mega by Yggdrasil early on in the digital world’s life, before the death of Alphamon.” Anubismon said before giving a gentle laugh, “You’ve forgotten of course, but I remember how when you were only starting out as a Royal Knight, you had to force yourself to seem strong and grown up, while being unable to appreciate the lives of those you protected. In fact, your core had so much envy towards those very digimon who had what you never did as Sleipmon: A childhood as well as a slow life cycle into adulthood. You might not have acknowledged it, but by preventing me from giving you an immediate rebirth, I believe the delay may have allowed you to actually spend time as a Rookie and work your way back to Mega while appreciating Life as a whole.”

Kudamon however, was stunned into silence, unsure what to even say as Anubismon put him down in front of Percy, the rest of the group also quiet for a few moments.

Sadly, the heartwarming moment was assassinated as a door to the side room opened, followed by a loud thump. As everyone looked towards the source of the noise, they saw that on the floor was a half-awake satyr like digimon with three black horns growing through the short, white hair on his head: two goat like ones on the sides, while the third was small and pointed grew from the middle. He had a tattered red scarf, red, lightning like markings under his left eye and on his left ear, chest and fore arms, hazel eyes, a black vest decorated with a single yellow pin displaying what looked a face with a sharp toothed grin on his body, white covers on his leg that were either armor or some very shiny and weird form of pants, white gloves, red armbands and tattered ribbons on his ankles, and finally a pair of gold bracelets decorated with a single blue stone. However, the most unusual thing about this digimon was the blue crystal on his chest, as something about it seemed off, but no one could be sure just what it was.

As the half-asleep satyr grumbled as he tried to stand up, Anubismon was the first to speak.

“Huh. So that Aegiomon I found the other day in the crater is awake, _finally._ ” he said dryly, “For a second, I thought I’d have to prepare him for his final moments.”

After those words, Aegiomon blinked as he became more aware, looking around the house, and then seeing the group gathered at the table. As he felt rather awkward, the strange digimon then said his first words since appearing.

“What’s going on?” he said, his voice sounding like someone in their late teens, “Am I interrupting something?”

“Nothing a Satyr like you should worry about.” Percy said, earning him a very confused look from the digimon.

“Satyr? What are you-” he said as he stood up and attempted to walk over to the table, only to stop when he heard his hooves clop on the floor. Another step and another clop caused him to finally look down and blink as it took a moment for things to sink in.

“Wh-What happened to my legs?!” he shouted, before falling on his rear and poking the hooves with his gloved hands. “Wait, th-these aren’t mine, are they? Wh-why am I so chilly? Wait… wh-what the hell happened to my clothes and what am I even wearing?!”

As the digimon seemed to be surprised about his appearance, the group was dumbstruck as they watched the continued freak out.

“Wh-Why do I have pipes in front of my crotch?! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY CROTCH?! Why do I have tattoos? What’s with this rock in my chest, and why do I look like something out of a kid’s comic book!?” he said as he then remembered he wasn’t alone as he looked and pointed at the humans, “Why don’t I look like a human like they do?! In fact, why is there even a monster in the house!?”

“I’m an Asgardian… not a human.” Thor then said, but went ignored as Anubismon was apparently insulted as he grumbled a bit about the monster comment. Once the grumbling was done however, Anubismon then spoke, while Percy, Kudamon, Fanbeemon and Bruce were just as confused as the Judge of the Dead.

“Aegiomon… are you alright?” Anubismon asked, though he had a bad feeling about the sort of answer he’d get. Aegiomon however, just gave the digimon a look that was a mix of surprise that it could talk- having apparently not noticed his host speak earlier, and also showing fear, confusion and mainly frustration as the satyr spoke again.

“What’s an Aegi-whatever?! My name is Roland!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter... well, for starters Voltamon is an original digimon I threw in for the sub arc this and the next couple of chapters make up only. Originally, the judge would have been Phelesmon, but due to 1) listening to stuff by Aurelio Voltaire, and 2) failing to imagine Phelesmon in a top hat, I threw that idea out and threw in an Original Digimon in its place. 
> 
> Next, as you might have noticed, it seems something happened to Witchelny after the war, but the natives of the Digital World don't know what it was since it seems Anubismon's Squatters never told him, and their sulking ruler won't say anything either. 
> 
> Now, while Anubismon does give out exposition about the partnered digimon's past lives, they're going to be explored a bit more in detail later. Also, he reveals the origins of the crests in this fic's version of the Digital World. 
> 
> Now, before I continue further... I just want to say that writing out Kudamon's little breakdown drove me to tears writing it, and again while editing the chapter. Not sure what it means when a writer actually feels for their characters, but I needed something to counter the feels somehow... which led to the moment being killed by Aegiomon's massive "WTF!?" moment. 
> 
> Next time: We see what the King of Witchelny's left overs is up to, as well as what Piedmon does while the rest of the group is in town...


	13. The Beast- Entr'acte

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Two Princes: One of Prosperity the other of Ruin. One shall be Loved while the other Hated, but which was which?," the oracle asks. He did not know, and so Witchelny as a whole was forced to guess...

Within the gateless castle of Little Witchelny, the king of the magical digimon Aldamon looked out the window to see five strangers enter the home of Anubismon. He didn’t know who they were, or what they wanted as all he could see was the white and gold ferret around the neck of one of the boys- the one that wore tattered clothing, the large insect with the youngest of the group who seemed to have a bit of trouble keeping up, and the warrior with the red cape. Aldamon simply watched them enter the house, with the youngest boy stopping to look at the castle and spot him. Aldamon flinched and quickly moved out of sight, as he had become uneasy about his own subjects, much less strangers seeing him.

Looking around his chambers, scattered with sheet music, guitars, drums, and a couple of trumpets and a trombone. Though the king’s bed was quite lavish with soft (and thankfully fire proof) sheets and bedding, it seemed a little on the messy and unmade side. The king then looked at the partially tarnished mirror, looking at himself as he saw his extremely long, messy blond hair, red and gold armor, beastly legs, long armored tail, and finally his weakly burning fiery wings. The protective black body suit meant to keep his armor from chafing him seemed dull and a bit dirty, while the gold, pointed covers of his Rudri Tarpana blasters had ended up sealed shut from a lack of maintenance and so, he was unable to even use his weapons to protect himself with any offensive magic in the Eneruge, or Fire school of magic.

Not that he even cared at this point. Looking into his reflection’s blue eyes, he briefly remembered that they had once been filled with life and innocence but now they were dull and glassy with self loathing and misery over what he had done as King. Despite the eerie feeling his eyes gave even to their owner, his face was still rather beautiful, but as per tradition for Witchelny Royalty, he had to hide his face behind a mask. Aldamon’s mask however, was laying on the night stand next to him, the red, dragon like mask looking cracked and faded in places while the three once well cared for white and red horns had yellowed with age as the King had simply given up on himself. As he held the mask in his hands for a moment, examining the white rune under the center horn, he sighed and slipped it on before leaving his chambers to wander about the rest of his castle.

As he walked, he thought about the past twenty five years, and how after the castle was built for him, and control of its form and every single brick tied to his will through an enchantment, he sealed himself inside. The only times he had let anyone in was when he was opening the back of the castle for food to be brought in and as of a few months ago, opening the front of the castle to allow the more feminine members of the village and a couple of travelers to have refuge. Even then he always avoided being seen, even by his late adoptive father Medieval Dukemon, who chose to live in a nice house in the Baluluna district filled with former Vortex Guardians and wind magic using magicians, as signified by the green coloring of the area and on the clothes most of the citizens from that section wore. When the previous ruler died last year, Aldamon was upset but he still never left the castle to mourn with his people, relaying a message to Anubismon to lead the mourning of Little Witchelny in his stead. Aldamon had also seen the whole murder from the window of his castle, but he chose not to do a thing as he actually hoped to earn the ire of his people at last. Yet no one in Little Witchelny showed their hatred, and instead showed nothing but love for their king, just as they always did even after his brother, Piedmon had been exiled.

He shouldn’t have had gotten his hopes up. For as long as he could remember, he had been the beloved prince adopted by Medieval Dukemon after all, and their blind devotion made him sick.

Thinking of the clown, Aldamon remembered how his brother had always been cold and apathetic thanks to all the hatred the citizens of their former home had given him. Even when Aldamon caused the entire war with the Digital World over a misunderstanding about how Mastemon ruled things, Piedmon was the scapegoat and had been accused of tricking the king into starting the war when people realized that the king’s brother had not helped his home in the war. Aldamon, even when he tried to explain that his brother had no hand in the events leading to the war and that it was all his own fault, could not get the people to listen to him and they demanded Piedmon’s blood. So, the king was forced to do what he thought was right at the time to spare his brother from the executioner’s block, and banished him to the digital world.

Even now, he still remembered the look in his brother’s eyes as Aldamon opened the portal to the Digital World from Witchelny: the cold fury they normally held while also holding a hint of confusion as to why he was being banished instead of killed, and finally fear. The way Piedmon’s red eyes had burned the fiery king with that look had haunted him ever since, but not as much as the words Piedmon had said before he shook off his chains and proudly walked towards the portal.

_“I guess time will tell whether this was a mistake or not, my brother. The future that will be born from this is unknown, perhaps even to master Oracles. Do lead our home well King Aldamon, as I shall not be around to take the blame again.”_

“Piedmon… probably wouldn’t want to see me now anyway.” Aldamon then said to himself as he walked the halls of his home, “After everything I’ve done, after destroying our home, after doing nothing to end our people’s hatred of him, he must despise me… I know I would in his shoes. It’s funny though, that the only one I never hated was my brother, and he’d be the only one to hate me.”

Soon, he turned the corner, and flinched when he saw he wasn’t alone as he saw sitting on a window seat at the end of the hall was a woman with long black hair tied half way down her back into loose pig tails that ended in white tips, a purple, fox-like mask that allowed the bottom half of her face be seen with a stripe on each cheek, long, pointed ears and wearing a black, tattered hakama with a white robe with loosely stitched sleeves connected to the shoulders, and a pair of belts with a few tubes fit snugly on them as they went around her waist as well as her feet covered by a pair of slippers stopping just below the ankle. Of course, Aldamon knew the priestess like digimon as Kuzuhamon, but her name was all he knew about her, as he tried very hard not to look at the fact her robe was showing a good bit of her chest, and was about to turn around and leave her be.

“King Aldamon.” The Priestess then said, causing the beastly king to stop and turn as he realized he’d been noticed. The King said nothing, thinking to himself as he recalled that she along with the rest of his guests were given refuge from Lillithmon, who visited Little Witchelny one day after her take over of the Ring of Love. Aldamon remembered that as he watched the wicked she-demon demand to be let in to the castle, Aldamon refused as he found the demon lord of lust to be detestable. Especially once he heard rumors that his brother was her slave. As he refused to believe that Piedmon would even allow himself to be captured by a monster like her, Aldamon would know if it was true had Lillithmon brought the former prince with her. As she did not however and he also felt the need to spite Lillithmon, he had agreed to keep his guests in his palace in the event the wicked queen returned in the future.

“King Aldamon.” Kuzuhamon said again, causing the king to flinch when he realized she’d not only been trying to get his attention for a while now, but that she was now standing right in front of him.

“Yes?” Aldamon said as he averted his eyes, “What do you want?”

“So you can speak after all.” Kuzuhamon said with a smile, “Here I thought you were just mute, and yet you’ve proven me wrong, your Majesty.”

“Did you just want me to prove I’m not a silent phantom or something?” Aldamon asked dryly as he failed to realize that Kuzuhamon had insulted him a little, “Or did you have something else on your mind?”

“I was really wondering why you choose to hide?” Kuzuhamon then asked, causing Aldamon to turn his head away from her and cross his arms in annoyance.

“You… wouldn’t understand.” he said, “You’re not of Witchelny after all.”

“True, but if I didn’t ask then how would I learn?” Kuzuhamon said, “Before I became one of your guests in your home, I would gaze at the pieces stacked so carefully with love, and tried to see through the closed shutters that were windows to your heart. I could not find a way to build a door to let me in, but perhaps it is because I couldn’t throw away my selfish pride in trying to see you. So, I wish to know why you hide in this castle you built for yourself, as the citizens you rule over willingly do what you ask out of love?”

Aldamon heard her words and beneath his mask, furrowed his brows in confusion as he vaguely remembered a melody before it left him. He then recalled how once upon a time, an ancient prince turned into a beast by a magic spell, while Aldamon had through his own studies of magic, cast a spell upon himself to turn from an ugly prince and into a beautiful beast. However, that was long ago in another world, centuries ago in fact, and so it did not matter, and yet he felt a minor pain in his chest as he thought about her question.

“There are things I would rather leave unsaid.” he then told her, before turning around and walking away, and then whispering to himself once he was far from the priestess, “Mainly my fear of opening a long forgotten wound within my heart. Despite my willing isolation away from my people, why is it that here inside the castle that I built all for myself is filled with an emptiness so deep that I could drown?”

~~000~~

Meanwhile, Piedmon had set GranLocomon’s brake forward, keeping the train digimon in place as he played away at the keyboard after spending so much time tuning it. As he found the music he made beautiful and in his mind, enjoyably perfect, he continued to play while the train used the pipes on the train’s exterior to broadcast the sound for all to hear.

Of course, this had earned the clown an audience as outside GranLocomon were a trio of young digimon.

The first was Dracmon, who had come along with two other rookies after the returning the potion he stole. The second was Impmon, who looked like a little purple demon with two horns on his head as well as a white face, green eyes, three fingered hands covered with red gloves, a red bandanna and a tiny fang poking out of his mouth. The most unusual feature on his body though, was the smilie on his chest with a fanged grin, which was rather fitting for such a mischievous digimon.

The other digmon however was named Flamemon, who had wild, orange hair, big green eyes, tan skin, white markings on his face, chest, and feet (which also had three red claws each), a pair of filed down horns on his head, earrings hanging from his pointed ears, red pants and anklets, a black belt around his waist with a white buckle depicting a black rune, and finally a pair of red shoulder pads and also red and black gauntlets on his hands. He didn’t seem to have wanted to come along with the two trouble makers, but as the oldest of the trio also looked a little scruffed up, he may not have had a choice.

“So, who do you tink’s in there?” said Impmon first.

“Dunno Impy.” Said the town’s number one prankster Dracmon, “But whoever it is, I can’t wait to _welcome_ them into town!”

“Dracmon, maybe we should just leave them alone.” Flamemon said, only to sigh once he saw he was ignored as Dracmon, feeling brave then ran up to knock on the door leading to the control room while the music still played. After a moment, he then ran back and hid behind Flamemon, who didn’t like where the situation was going. Especially when Impmon joined the little vampire digimon behind their taller companion.

Within the train however, Piedmon heard the knock and had stopped playing out of curiosity.

“GranLocomon, is someone outside?” the clown then asked, before the train showed him the view outside.

“Seems like some young digimon from the village to me.” the train then said, thankful his speakers inside his body allowed him to speak directly to passengers while avoiding anyone outside from hearing him whenever he wanted. Of course, Piedmon didn’t respond right away, as when the clown saw the three young digimon on screen, especially Flamemon, he felt heartbroken as the firey-tailed digimon reminded him of his brother Aldamon back when the two of them were much younger. Unfortunately, Piedmon could only watch for now as he also heard what GranLocomon did as the other two young digimon started to push Flamemon towards the door.

“Go on and see who’s in there Flamemon!” said Dracmon.

“Yeah, we gotta know who’s playin’ and since you’re oldest, you get ta do it!” said Impmon, while Flamemon tried to fight against the other two.

“Guys, I _really_ don’t think this is a good idea.” Flamemon then said as he looked worried, “I mean, we may just be disturbing a digimon who wants their privacy… sides, it could cause them to attack.”

“Oh you’re just a chickenmon!” both of Flamemon’s companions said, while Dracmon then added “If you don’t act all brave, then you’re just a coward like King Aldamon who doesn’t even leave his castle!”

“I’m not a coward!” Flamemon protested as his younger bullies kept pushing him towards the door, ”I just don’t want to piss off some digimon, ok? Besides, I still want to leave town, you know.”

The two digimon that were trying to force Flamemon to act however, then stopped for a moment as they looked at each other. Getting their own dark looks as they faced Flamemon again, they then pushed the digimon to the ground before stomping on him as they mocked poor little Flamemon.

“Leave town?” Impmon said with a laugh, “You can’t even use proper fire magic, and you’re fifteen years old! What makes you tink a weaklin like you would be able to last outside of Little Witchelny?”

“Yeah!” Dracmon then said as he kicked Flamemon in the stomach, “Not to mention you’re crazy for wanting to leave our town anyway! A nameless Flamemon like you can’t even get the adults in town to listen to you, so how are you going to convince them to let you leave without getting banished?”

Piedmon, upon seeing this on the screen remembered the treatment in his youth as a digimon called Strabimon living in Witchelny. In fact, one memory in particular had cropped up that he hadn’t thought about in a very, very long time as he recalled an incident from before he met Medieval Dukemon…

~~000~~

_“Get back here you clanless brat!” A shopkeeper had shouted after him, the lavender furred Strabimon running as he carried a bag on his back that was full of bread. He was fast as usual as he escaped, he had to be in the inner city of Witchelny’s capital of Aleister, where pure-blooded mages lorded themselves over the clanless like him, and were known to sling spells at those like him for fun. As he carried a pair of swords at his sides in case of trouble, Strabimon’s red eyes glowed with fury as he rolled out of the way of a lightning spell, and quickly fired back a stone surrounded by a firey tornado in retaliation out of pure instinct. He never knew how he was so talented with magic, didn’t even care as long as it helped him survive another day._

_However, it was when he made it to his home- a crappy little shack in a back alley, that he was met with a nasty surprise._

_Some bastard mage had set his home on fire, and was still there watching it burn with a grin on his face. Strabimon however, quickly put it out with a spell to summon rain as his eyes started to glow in rage and he drew his sword as he spoke up._

_“What the hell have you done to my home!?” the wolf said as he charged in, only to miss as the arsonist stepped aside and shook his head._

_“Wow, so you’re the brat causing all this trouble?” he- a humanoid looking mage with blond hair, a green and brown outfit, white gloves, and his face shadowed by the large green hat he wore, had said with a sigh “Hard to believe that a clanless little beast like you is a magical genius. What are you, the heir to that thief who got away with the Spells of Origin? Man, what a drag this turned out to be.”_

_Strabimon howled as he ignored the stranger’s insults for the moment, both of his blades drawn as he moved to attack the mage who had tried to destroy his home. Of course, the stranger simply drew his own blade and fought back, and after a few minutes managed to disarm the young thief before magically pinning the white pants wearing wolf to the ground. As Strabimon struggled to break free, the mage simple walked forward and kicked the wolf in the face, before stomping on his back before slowly cutting into Strabimon’s side with his own sword._

_“Man, this was just too easy…” he had said with a sigh, “I hate having to do this to you, furball, but well, a job’s a job and it’s not like the King himself is going to show up and save your sorry ass.”_

~~000~~

What followed of course, was more pain for himself, as Piedmon recalled that his arms were cut open and left to bleed, followed by kicks to the sides and face until Strabimon was close to death. The whole time he prayed for someone to help him, and the last thing he had seen before blacking was white armor and a red cape. While he watched the scene on GranLocomon’s screen however, and saw his younger self in place of the young Flamemon, Piedmon’s eyes glowed with fury as they had back then, and immediately ran towards the door and swung it open.

“Stop that at once you hooligans!” he cried out angrily, getting all three rookie’s attention as the two bullies immediately recognized the clown and ran away screaming “It’s Piedmon!” all the way back to the village. Flamemon however, simply laid on his back looking rather stunned as the bruised and battered digimon watched Piedmon move towards him, before the clown decided to help him up instead of killing him.

“Are you alright?” the clown then asked, the rage he had before replaced with concern, and as a result, caused Flamemon to smile and chuckle a bit.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine, really!” he said as he got up and cringed, “I’m kind of used to it by now anyway. Besides, you’d probably get in trouble too if those two keep screaming that you’re around.”

Piedmon however said nothing at first, paying more attention to the cuts and bruises on Flamemon’s body, not to mention that the young digimon seemed a little malnourished as well. “Honestly, I don’t care if they form a mob to come after me as right now, what’s important is that you get some first aid and also something to eat.”

“But, I’m fine!” Flamemon protested, but didn’t try to fight back as Piedmon picked Flamemon up in his arms and took the young digimon inside the train.

“No, you’re not. Doesn’t your family take care of you? Really, when was the last time you’ve eaten?” Piedmon said, setting the rookie down on a couch and quickly going around, looking for Bruce’s doctor bag, and also conjuring up on the table next to Flamemon an actual meal in the form of hamburger steak with gravy on top of some rice, stir-fried green beans, carrots, zucchini and onion as well as a couple of fresh baked rolls on the side, a large glass of milk and finally some cookies for dessert. As it looked so good to the injured digimon, he immediately dug in and actually had to do his best not to choke with how fast he ate.

“I’ve had some day old bread this morning… but I really don’t have a family, I’m just a street rat to some of the villagers anway.” Flamemon said between bites as he watched Piedmon work, “But, aren’t you supposed to be some sort of ‘Heartless Villain’ that caused the war, and supposedly cursed Aldamon to later destroy Witchelny after you were banished?”

Piedmon froze, the doctor’s bag on one hand, and a minor repair disk in the other as he heard his old home was gone forever. “Do you know exactly what happened to Witchelny?”

“No sir. I was born in the village about fifteen years ago now.” Flamemon then said, causing the clown to look rather solemn as he used the disk on the rookie to heal up any internal damage caused by that kick to the stomach, before he opened the doctor’s bag again and started digging around for the bandages and antiseptic.

“My apologies. I never knew what happened after my exile.” Piedmon said once he found what he needed and started getting to work on treating Flamemon’s injuries while the young digimon ate away at the meal. “I should not be surprised I’m blamed for it anway. To be honest, I was treated a lot like you were by those bullies my entire life. I even stayed out of the war as I had a sinking suspicion that if I tried to help Witchelny, they’d just accuse me of sabotage. Not to mention that as I was mistreated by nearly everyone, I had… trouble recognizing certain things like kindness, gratitude, companionship or even love until I arrived in the digital world, and later on meeting Venusmon.”

“Really?” Flamemon asked with his mouth full, before taking a moment to swallow, “I always thought that Aldamon really cared for you, based on what I heard some of the digimon say about the king, and they just couldn’t understand why he spared you by banishing you instead of killing you like anyone else would.”

“Like I said before… Sorry, but what do they call you in the village?.” Piedmon said while Flamemon put his fork down and sighed.

“I never really got one.” The young digimon said, “So, I’m just Flamemon to everybody.”

“Flamemon it is then,” Piedmon said with a sad chuckle, “and as I was saying, I had become so used to mistreatment, I failed to recognize my brother’s kindness as a form of love. My heart at the time had been so conditioned by hatred, that I was blind to it.”

“Why’d you ask for my name, anyway?” Flamemon then asked before taking a sip of milk.

“Well,back in Witchelny, a named mage had better control of their magic than an unnamed one, and it also helped to give us a way to tell apart certain mages as I recall.” Piedmon said, “Though, I’m surprised no one tried to name you after the king’s true name as he was once a Flamemon just like what you are, while I was simply a Strabimon when Father adopted us both… though like you, I was a ‘street rat’ as you so put it.”

“Oh…” Flamemon said, before looking a bit confused again, “So, what was your name?”

“An exiled mage loses their name as they leave Witchelny one last time.” Piedmon said sadly, “The only way to get their name back and unseal their lost power however, is if someone just says that lost name. However, once a mage is exiled, no one is allowed to refer to them by name out of fear that even in another world, stating it will give them back their power.”

“Well… that explains why some digimon born in the village have names but the older ones who were there when Little Witchelny was founded don’t.” Flamemon said, “I mean, I guess since the King’s always referred to as ‘Aldamon,’ then the ones that came from Witchelny are considered Banished, right?”

As Piedmon nodded grimly, Flamemon decided to change the subject as he thought of a new question for the clown. “Hey, you’re not still mad about being exiled, are you?”

“Actually,” Piedmon said with a smile as he finished up bandaging the rookie’s cuts and bruises and sat down next to him, “I actually consider my exile to be the best thing to happen to me. I was able to figure out who I could be, and just grow into a a rather well adjusted digimon with the help of GranLocomon, and I even got to meet the love of my life.”

“Flamemon” the train then said while giving Flamemon a bit of a fright, “Do you know if the citizens of Little Witchelny, even if it’s a small amount, consider Piedmon innocent of his actions?”

Flamemon however, simply gave a nervous laugh as he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a folded up poster. After showing it was a “Never Forget” poster depicting Piedmon as a monster, the clown laughed and shrugged.

“Saw that one coming.” Piedmon then said, smiling as he decided to keep the poster as a “souvenir” of sorts before taking on a more concerned expression. “Flamemon, what did those bullies mean about my brother not leaving his castle?”

“Well, in the twenty five years the town’s existed, no one’s seen King Aldamon since the castle was built with magic the day it was founded. He sealed himself inside, and is occasionally seen looking out the windows. In fact, the only time he opened up the place was when we begged him to take in some of the village women and a few travelers to protect them from Lillithmon.”

“Well, at least that’s something Aldamon and I can agree on.” Piedmon then said, “No one should give Lillithmon what she wants, at least not willingly.”

What Piedmon didn’t say however, was one day after Lillithmon enslaved him, she had decided to go to Little Witchelny, and at first wanted Piedmon to go with her. Piedmon of course, had to convince her to cancel the order, by telling her about how the people of Little Witchelny would fight against her immediately if they saw him in her presence, just because she was associated with him. Lillithmon had accepted this reason and gave him a chance to stay behind, the thankful clown not only saving him some grief, but also avoiding the locals and their hatred for him. His worried expression however, had not gone unnoticed by Flamemon, as the young digimon then spoke up.

“You alright?”

Piedmon, at first flinched a bit, before gently smiling at the young digimon. “There… are thing I would rather leave unsaid. So please, just leave things be for now.”

“Oh…” Flamemon said with a sigh, and then thought of another question. “Hey, what’s it like out in the rest of the digital world?”

“Why do you ask?” Piedmon then said in surprise.

“Well, because I want to leave the village one day and explore.” The fiery rookie then said before giving a groan, “But unfortunately, ‘leaving the village is forbidden’ according to all the older digimon here, and only getting kicked out of town would let me have my chance. However, I don’t want to break any of the laws in town to ensure my exile since that’d just lead to me being killed instead, so until I find a loophole or at least get strong enough to leave town, I’m stuck here.”

“Well, usually Flamemon are natural mages of Eneruge, so I don’t know why you need to get stronger.” Piedmon said only to notice his guest clear his throat and look down at the floor with a sigh.

“And there’s why I don’t get much respect.” he said, “I’m ironically the worst mage in all of Little Witchelny, and all I can do outside of my basic moves is just creating a ring of fire. I’ve tried to study and learn the other spells but that just blows up in my face…. also accidentally destroyed my own house, and with my folks having disowned me anyway… I just want to leave this crazy town.”

Piedmon said nothing as he looked at the rookie. While the clown himself had always had a natural talent with magic, to see that Flamemon had basically none was pretty revealing about his life in general. As the clown recalled, warriors and those who weren’t able to use magic very well were usually looked down upon, and seeing that stigma was still around, even when Piedmon himself was quite the swordsman now as well as still one hell of a mage, he still couldn’t help but feel sorry for the young digimon.

“Listen, Magic isn’t everything.” The clown then said as he placed a hand on Flamemon’s shoulder, “No matter what they may tell you regarding it, Magic is not able to well, solve everything. There are times that common sense and a mundane solution is required rather than a big spell that would just make things worse. You may not have much in magical ability, but… I can tell you’re certainly full of common sense at least, and a sword can be just as useful as a spell.”

“So, instead of focusing on my magic if I suck at it, find something I’m good at and work on improving that skill instead?” Flamemon asked.

“Exactly.” Piedmon said with a warm smile before getting up, “Anyway, those two hooligans are probably causing trouble since I’ve been found out, so you best leave and show you’re alive and well before the mob shows up to try and lynch me. In fact, take those cookies along with you, for later of course.”

“Oh! Okay… Th-thanks!” Flamemon said, rather surprised by the clown’s gesture before pocketing the leftover sweets and heading out of the train. Though Piedmon waved farewell to the young digimon, once he shut the door again, he sat down and placed a hand over his heart as all sorts of emotions swarmed him. Worry for his brother, pain over being unable to face the people who so despised him as well as being unable to go out and help Aldamon as well as his companions on his current journey.

Yet through all those dark feelings, he still felt a bit of happiness that for once, someone from what was left of his old home didn’t out right hate him despite all the propaganda against the fallen prince.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, back in Anubismon’s home, Percy, Bruce, their digimon and Thor just stared at the apparently crazy digimon that just called itself Roland. Anubismon, also confused by Roland, just tilted his head and tried to figure out what the hell was wrong with the satyr, who then looked a bit uneasy.

“Why do you guys look like I just killed someone?” Roland then asked, “Er… that is… I really didn’t kill anyone, did I?”

“None that we know of.” Thor said, “However… I have yet to see a digimon with a human name.”

“BUT I AM HUMAN!” Roland then said, “I-I may not remember anything but my name, but I just… I just know I’m human!”

Anubismon, tired of this silliness then conjured up a mirror to remind the Aegiomon why he had freaked out earlier. Roland of course, upon seeing his reflection, and finally his face, first touched the horns on his head, and finding that they were really there, started to freak out once again.

“What the hell happened to me?” he said, before shaking his head, “No. No way! There is no possible way this is happening! I-I got to be dreaming! Yeah, th-that’s it! This is all a dream, and I’ll wake up soon back at home, and totally normal!” The denial filled digimon then started ignoring things for the moment, and Bruce decided to speak up.

“Um… Anubismon? How can a digimon think they’re human?”

“Kid? I’ve got no damn clue.” was all Anubismon could say.

~~000~~

Back within the castle, Aldamon was looking out over the village again, and saw two young digimon run towards the castle screaming. One of the digimon- that prankster Dracmon from the looks of it, then started banging on Anubismon’s door, the king actually freezing as he heard the young digimon speak.

“Anubismon! Anubismon!” Dracmon had yelled, “Piedmon’s outside the village in that train the outsiders came in on! He-He’s already got Flamemon, and he’s probably here to destroy us all!”

Aldamon then saw a mob gather together behind the young digimon, and Anubismon opened the door, looking annoyed as always while his guests were seen in the window.

“There they are!” shouted one of the mob’s members, Karatenmon it looked like as he pointed a sword at the Judge’s window. “Piedmon’s agents of desctruction! They should be arrested!”

“Oh for the love of…” Anubismon then groaned as he looked like he was getting a headache, “All of you get the _hell_ off my lawn! Also, leave the travelers alone, I am considering them my guests, and if any of you goes after them, or even me, then it’s a one way trip down Ammit’s innards for the idiot that decides to do it anyway, got it!?“

The mob then ran the hell away, afraid of testing their mayor’s patience especially when he was able to summon a demon at any time to devour them if they pissed him off enough. From Aldamon’s window, the king then saw the jackal headed mayor turn to his guests while remaining in the door way, and heard him speak once again.

“Sorry about that,” he said, “The Witchelny Natives that live here are crazy… for some stupid reason, so they go nuts if they believe someone or something is related to Piedmon while they give all the love in the world to their king Aldamon. So, I just ignore them and protect the poor travelers they try to kill every other month, and if they get pissy, well, I bark right back at them. Anyway… if they try anything, just be careful in the village, alright?”

Aldamon didn’t see the guests reactions, but the idea that his brother was actually here was something he hadn’t even dreamed of. While he doubted his brother would willingly destroy the village, or even an innocent digimon, he was more curious on if the group really were associated with his brother, and if they were, how Piedmon had been since his exile.

So, for the first time in a while, he focused on his fiery magic of the Eneruge school, creating a ring of fire in the air in front of him and focused on Anubismon’s home, soon seeing the image of the Judge of the dead and all his guests as he sent an image of himself to speak with the mayor of Little Witchelny. He also noticed that the young boy who saw him earlier seemed pretty frightened as he hid behind the warrior who was readying his hammer while the teen just looked uneasy. As he also saw that the ferret around the teen’s neck looked terrified and the insect ready to defend against an attack, Aldamon then started to control the image he sent to try and smooth things over.

“D-Don’t worry little one,” he said to the child, “I’m not really here. This is an illusion so I can’t really hurt you and you can’t hurt me. That, and I don’t want to hurt anyone anyway! R-really!” As the king watched through his image’s eyes however, he saw the group look confused as they looked at each other for a moment before the ferret spoke.

“… This was the one who started the war in Witchelny…” it had said flatly after getting over its terror, and instead just stared in wonder.

“Ok Aldamon, what the hell do you want this time?” Anubismon then said, causing the illusion to jump a bit as he turned to face the Judge of the dead.

“I… I would like you to send the humans and their digimon friends to my palace. Once they’re across the moat, I… I will let them in. Please, I just want to see if they really do know my brother.” Aldamon said, causing the travelers to look unsure if the King was an actual threat, or just really out of practice when it came to talking to people. Of course, Roland the Aegiomon then saw the illusion and blinked as he watched Anubismon nod and send the others out.

“Uh excuse me…” Roland then said, getting Aldamon’s attention, “Er, can I go to?”

“Do you know Piedmon?”

“Well… no… at least, I don’t think I do?” Roland said, while the image didn’t seem to care.

“Then I would rather not see you. However… you can come if you want… I guess?“

As Roland stumbled out of the house after the others, Anubismon noticed that the king’s messenger was still in his house, and so the Judge crossed his arms and gave another annoyed look to Aldamon.

“Anything _else,_ your majesty?”

“Yes… just one last thing.” Aldamon said, “I want you to go to the train outside the village and check to see if my brother is truly there. If he is… can you please ask him to see me in the castle immediately?”

Anubismon said nothing, sensing that the King’s isolation has done much harm to his emotional state, just by reading the king’s digi-core through the sending alone. Nodding, the jackal left and the King ended his spell back in his chambers before heading out and doing his best to prepare for what was to come.

In truth, Aldamon was filled with hope that he’d see his brother again after so long, but even more so, he was downright terrified of that same idea.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, while this chapter took a while to edit, mainly due to thinking up Piedmon's little flashback, I'm happy with how this turned out. Also, this is the start of a mini-arc based loosely around the vocaloid song called "The Beast." And I've included some of the lyrics to the English version of the song in this arc as well. Since it's going to focus on mainly Piedmon I felt he really needed the character development to really differentiate him from Adventure's Piedmon... and also because that clown's soooooo much fun to write.
> 
> As for why I used Strabimon as his rookie form? Well, Digivolution lines are never set in stone, so... using some research, I ended up with Strabimon>Meramon>Phantomon>Piedmon.
> 
> Next time: Angry Mobs, a meeting gone wrong and finally, someone dies.


	14. One Day Suddenly You Appeared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An angry mob is hard to reason with, but a willing sacrifice can change everything...

Within Aldamon’s castle, a young digimon that looked like a witch in a red dress, red hat, long, red gloves covering her gigantic hands, a black cape, boots, and also having short blond hair, blue eyes and a ghostly black cat hanging around her shoulders. Of course, as she flew around the halls while a seat belt kept her from slipping off the broom she was riding around side-saddle on, the digmon, Witchmon looked excited as she reached the meeting place with four of the other female digimon hiding in Aldamon’s castle.

As she closed the door to the library, she then looked at her fellow digimon and once again committed their appearances to memory. Starting with the monochromely dressed Kuzuhamon who was well memorized by the young digimon already, Witchmon recalled that the priestess had been in town for only a couple of years, doing odd jobs around the place while also trying to get information from Anubismon. When she had asked Kuzuhamon what she wanted to speak with the mayor about, Witchmon had been told that it was related to an incident she didn’t like to talk about. Witchmon decided not to press into an outsider’s past problems, but did ask just why Kuzuhamon had traveled at all.

“ _I’m looking for someone who saved my life once. Now, go away._ ” Kuzuhamon had told her, and so Witchmon assumed it was a boyfriend of hers or something. After that though, Witchmon had felt that Kuzuhamon was hiding something, but since the priestess didn’t seem to like the blond witch, the broom riding digimon then turned her attention to the other three in the room.

The one that always grabbed Witchmon’s attention the most was Sanzomon, a digimon dressed like a buddhist monk with a white robe, bare feet, lots of red beads, a large crown decorated in symbols the witch didn’t recognize, and finally a scroll covering half of her face as it was wrapped around her like a red scarf. The digimon’s gold hair and eyes did show however, and Witchmon admitted to herself that she found Sanzomon- while nice looking, to be incredibly dull in personality, even if she was supposedly a pretty powerful digimon. Witchmon had also heard that the monk had once traveled with three other digimon, but something happened and her group went their separate ways.

Then, Witchmon looked at the two Sistermon: Blanc and Noir. Blanc was the younger looking of the two, being a Rookie level that looked like a young nun with a pink feathery, and somehow also bunny-like habit with a little face on it (that sometimes seemed as expressive as she was), long gray hair, and big adorable grey eyes. Blanc’s short dress was a bit frilly and white, despite the gold crosses on the skirt and the knee-high short heeled boots didn’t seem to fit well with the rest of the young digimon’s appearance. As always, Blanc’s trident was nearby, and in fact, Witchmon wondered if Blanc considered it a weird teddy bear by how much she held the thing close to her.

As for Noir, the older, and champion level digimon wore black instead of white, while her cat eared habit was also a bit more leathery in comparision to Blanc’s. Her black and gold dress was also a little frilly, but this actually worked with the thigh-high stockings she wore along with a pair of silver heels she had on her feet. Of course, Noir also had her two “Anthony” handguns at her hips, just in case trouble broke out.

Of course, Witchmon then realized the others were staring at her, and so she started talking about what she overheard near Aldamon’s chambers.

“So, apparently the King is letting some complete strangers in to the castle, all because they might be associated with the villain Piedmon! Can you believe how weird that is?”

“Not really.” Sanzomon said quietly, “In fact, perhaps this might be the beginning of the end for Aldamon’s self imposed suffering. The despair of his heart is rather palpable to me, and emotional healing will be good for him.”

“Can he even be healed at this point, Sanzomon?” Kuzuhamon asked, “Twenty five years of willing isolation from his people. I believe that alone could make it impossible for him to reconnect with the outside world, much less, his brother.”

“Stranger things have happened, Kuzuhamon.” Sanzomon then said, “For example, your own burden is what drives you to find your ‘Swashbuckling Angel’ is it not?”

Kuzuhamon simply blushed and grumbled in annoyance, while Witchmon swore she saw Sanzomon actually smirk beneath her scroll scarf.

“Yeah…” Noir then said, “I really, really don’t care about this whole soap opera about our host, you know? I’d really just want this whole thing over with so Blanc and I can try and find Gankoomon and Huckmon already! Ever since sis and I got the memo about Huck getting sent back to Rookie, we’ve been trying to meet up with those two so we can train that little dragon back to being a Royal Knight again!”

“Noir… please calm down.” Blanc then sighed, “I know you’re worried, but you need to be patient while we wait for Lillithmon’s defeat so that we may travel freely again.” Noir simply crossed her arms and grumbled, and the small group then started chatting about other things, from their lives before their current situation, to their plans once this mess was all over.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, Percy, Bruce, Kudamon, Fanbeemon, Thor and also Roland the Aegiomon had just entered the castle’s main hall, after they had stood outside the castle’s gateless exterior just open up in front of them brick by brick before it was wide enough to let them in. Of course, once all of them had entered, the wall quickly sealed itself behind them. As the group looked around the hall, they noticed that it was not in the best condition with tattered banners depticting Aldamon’s mask scattered about, scorch marks dotting the walls, columns, and floor, and also the cracked and dusty statues lining the walls, along with paintings covered in dust and grime.

“For a king, Aldamon really hasn’t been cleaning the place, has he?” Percy said, before blowing some dust off of a small table, causing it to scatter everywhere and even give little Bruce a coughing fit. Though the child managed to stop after a few minutes, Thor couldn’t help but notice that Bruce seemed rather pale and sickly, even compared to Percy, who despite his pale hair and slate gray eyes, was only slightly paler than Thor’s own skin.

“Are you alright, young Bruce?” Thor asked, causing the boy to flinch a bit and smile.

“I’m okay,” he said as he wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, while also keeping it balled up in his hand when he was done as if he was hiding something from the Asgardian, “Just allergies really, nothing to worry about.”

“If you are sure…” Thor said, still a bit concerned as he thought he saw a bit of red on the bit of cloth Bruce had in his hand, before the boy slipped it back into his pocket.

“Everyone,” Kudamon then said, drawing the group’s attention towards the bullet weasel while FanBeemon silently patted his partner’s back with a worried look on his face, “I do not know much of Aldamon in the present, but during the war about 45 years ago he was a wielder of great fire based sorcery. It would be best if we do not try to provoke him, especially if 25 years of isolation has affected his mind in any way.”

“Right.” Percy said, while Bruce and Thor nodded, the Asgardian preparing his hammer for a battle, just in case.

“Uh… guys?” Roland then said, getting the group’s attention before staring at the stairway the satyr pointed at. There, they saw Aldamon, looking a bit worse for wear compared to the healthy looking sending he used in Anubismon’s house. As the beastly, yet handsome King walked down the steps with his large, draconic feet, everyone could see that his eyes were only half filled with life, while his fiery wings were smaller and looking about as weak as the flame of a birthday candle.

“Your Majesty.” Kudamon then said, before hopping off of Percy’s neck and bowing despite how terrified he was of the King of Witchelny after the events of last year, followed by the others copying the gesture out of politeness. “We… thank you for the audience.”

“Please…” Aldamon said weakly, “do not treat me with respect I do not even deserve.”

The group then looked confused, Kudamon returning to his usual perch, while everyone else stood up straight before relaxing a bit.

“Are you not a king, Aldamon?” Thor asked, “As Prince of Asgard, I would assume a King like yourself would enjoy such courtesy.”

“Yes, I am King, but… I do not deserve being respected, or even loved after everything I’ve done.” Aldamon said, looking away uncomfortably from the warrior prince, who seemed like a good man that was no doubt loved by those he would one day rule over, and sadly, who also reminded Aldamon of how he used to be. The King then looked at the group again and took a deep breath before asking, “Which one of you knows my brother Piedmon, the best?”

“I guess that’s me and my partner.” Percy then said, stepping forward, “Name’s Percy Black, and I’ve known him a bit longer than anyone else with me here, and I’m sure my partner Kudamon knows a thing or two about him as well.”

“I see.” Aldamon said, “Tell me, Percy, has Piedmon mentioned me to you at all?”

“No.” Percy said, the king looking a bit hurt at the response, “All I know was that Piedmon has a vendetta against Lillithmon for turning his girlfriend into stone, forced him to work for her until I freed him, and seems happy to hang around me, while also helping me, my grand uncle Thor, and Bruce journey south in his friend GranLocomon.”

“He… has friends, and a lover?” Aldamon said to himself in confusion, before adding out loud, “You, Kudamon, in the past 45 years since the War’s end, how has my brother been in the digital world? H-Has he caused trouble, or been mistreated, or is… is he happy?”

“From what I’ve heard about him before becoming Percy’s digimon partner,” Kudamon said, crossing his tiny forelegs as he thought, “Is that he became a great entertainer that enjoyed seeing digimon smile, was helpful to those in need, and when it came to digimon that attacked him, or even small villages he performed in, he would make them disappear with his magic. I do not know how he was early on in his travels, but he does seem quite happy thinking about Venusmon, or even talking to Percy or GranLocomon.”

Aldamon fell silent as he went over the information in his mind. His brother had managed to become happy, even after losing his family, his home and even his former title of Prince. Piedmon had gained friends who cared for him, and was happy about his life as a vagabond. Aldamon, who was loved by their people had been miserable because he had only blind devotion, no true friends who would tell him what he had done was wrong and keep him grounded in reality. Aldamon also realized that his beloved brother, had everything he himself had ever dreamed to have, and yet, the King couldn’t bring himself to believe it.

“That…. that can’t be true.” he then said, his body trembling as his guests looked on in confusion. “He… He can’t be happy! He just can’t! The Piedmon I knew never smiled ever since Medieval Dukemon adopted us both, he’d never known any form of love his entire life! He… He couldn’t have managed to get over centuries of mistreatment from all of Witchelny in just 45 years!”

The King then let out a roar, glaring at his brother’s friends in his disbelief as he spoke.

“Until my brother tells me the truth, you are not to leave this place.” he said, before raising a hand and with a quick gesture, opened up the floor underneath his guests, sending them down into the dungeon and sealing the floor shut before the warrior, Thor could use Mjolnir to fly out and escape.

~~000~~

Meanwhile in the village, Anubismon was making his way towards GranLocomon when he saw the young Flamemon, bandaged up and eating a large chocolate chip cookie as he walked through the village. Anubismon knew that the young digimon lived in the burned remains of an old manor for the past decade while refusing to leave no matter who offered him shelter, and despite being the rookie level of King Aldamon, wasn’t too well liked by the locals.

Irony aside, Anubismon then stopped and looked at the fifteen year old digimon and spoke.

“Flamemon, are you alright?” he asked, “Impmon and Dracmon had said Piedmon had gotten you.”

“I’m fine!” Flamemon then said as he grinned, “Piedmon just helped me up after he scared off those two bullies. Despite what everyone says, he’s actually a pretty good guy!”

“Well, at least someone has a brain in this town.” Anubismon said with a smile before nodding towards Flamemon, mainly because someone other than him could see past the propaganda posted about the village. “In any case Flamemon, you best be on your way, Aldamon has given me a message to deliver to your hero, nothing to worry about, just an invitation to the castle.”

“Alright.” Flamemon said, waving good bye before running off, allowing Anubismon to continue his work while the judge of the dead also felt relieved that not everyone in Little Witchelny bought into the blind love and hate for Medieval Dukemon’s two sons.

Later on, the jackal headed digimon soon arrived at the train, which wasn’t hard since it was the only one there and knocked on the door leading to the controls.

“Piedmon, I know you’re in there since I can sense your digi-core.” Anubismon said, “I’m Anubismon, the mayor of Little Witchelny and I have a message for you.”

The door then opened, showing a slightly annoyed Piedmon as he looked at his guest, before giving the winged digimon a bow before he spoke.

“What, exactly is this message, and who is it from?” the clown then asked, “If it’s from most of the villagers wishing me to leave, I should be gone in the morning with my companions if they’re patient enough to wait.”

“Actually, it’s a message from your hermit of a brother.” Anubismon said, causing Piedmon to become rather surprised. “He wants you to come see him in his castle, and he has already seen your friends, but they haven’t left yet as far as I am aware. Of course, since Aldamon hasn’t been in contact with anyone but me for 25 years, he might not be all too stable.”

Piedmon immediately became worried, not only for his companions, but also for his brother’s mental and emotional state. As he looked Anubismon in the eye, he immediately spoke.

“Lead the way.” the clown then said, causing Anubismon to nod and turn around, the pair immediately heading into town, and also towards Aldamon’s castle as the sun had began to set.

Along the way however, the locals noticed the clown, and started calling Piedmon things like “Monster” or “Villain” while a few even started throwing things at the clown, while also trying to avoid hitting Anubismon. Piedmon however, while ignoring the insults did manage to use his four swords to protect himself from the rocks and trash thrown at him, the absurdly sharp blades able to slice through even Chrome Digizoid effortlessly deflecting and cutting the projectiles in half. While the hardening of his heart against such mistreatment helped in this situation, worry about his companions and brother helped him stay focused.

Unfortunately, the villagers decided to try to keep them from going straight towards the castle, blockading the two Digimon from their destination and forcing them to find other routes. As Piedmon and Anubismon continued taking detours, more and more villagers saw the clown and an angry mob soon formed. In fact, when they reached the burned remains of a manor in the red Eneruge district of Little Witchelny, the two saw that they were surrounded by the mob, who was ready to strike.

“Hey! I told you idiots not to attack me, or my guests!” Anubismon said, “Piedmon fucking counts as a guest, so back the hell off and go home!”

“Not this time, Anubismon!” Shouted Karatenmon, his own golden blades drawn and ready to strike, “We may have tolerated Piedmon’s agents when you defended them, but there is no way we will stand by and let the Prince of Ruin walk freely in our new home! He caused Witchelny’s destruction twenty five years ago, and he needs to _DIE!_ ”

“I wasn’t even _there_ twenty five years ago! I was banished remember!?” Piedmon protested, but it fell on deaf ears as the mob moved closer to the two digimon they surrounded, only to be stopped by a ring of fire surrounding the clown and the Judge of the Dead before the angry villagers could even attack. 

“Hey! Leave them alone!” Flamemon then yelled from the charred room above the mob, the digimon having watched from the edge overlooking the scene and heard everything. As the young digimon jumped down and landed between Anubismon and Piedmon inside the ring, he stood up and continued, “I mean, your argument doesn’t even make sense! How could he have destroyed Witchelny when he wasn’t even there when it happened!?”

The crowd fell silent, looking quite confused as everyone present thought they heard a phantom melody in the air. Unfortunately, the moment passed and the crowd was angry once again as Karatenmon spoke.

“He cursed the king before he left! That’s why!” the mystical crow screeched, and soon a fight broke out between the mob, and the three sane digimon they were facing down.

Anubismon used a move called Pyramid Power to imprison a few citizens in pyramids of light, keeping them out of the fray while Flamemon used his fire powers to drive off a few members of the mob that used wind magic of the Baluluna school. Of course, the magicians who used the Earthlin and Aquary schools of magic weren’t as easily driven off, but thankfully Anubismon and Piedmon protected the young Flamemon.

“Well, there’s no point talking to a mob of mad digimon!” Piedmon said as he held one of his four blade-, the one with the diamond shaped pommel, to block an attack from a Sorcermon’s staff, before deflecting it away with the flat of his blade. The other three swords moved about on their own throughout the brawl, commanded by Piedmon’s mind as they battled against other sword weilding digimon while also slicing apart anything headed towards the three heroes.

“Didn’t mean I couldn’t have tried anyway!” Flamemon shouted back at the clown, just as he threw a fireball to cancel out another one headed his way. “I mean, why the hell are they doing something so stupid as attack you when all you did was help, even when you were trying to help them when you could in Witchelny? It’s just stupid and wrong!”

“You’re guess is as good as mine!” Piedmon shouted, just before dodging an ice based spell spell, and countering it with an earth one, the ball of mud hitting the Sorcermon that fired the first spell right in the face and knocking him down. Unfortunately, the clown didn’t see that Karatenmon was behind him, and charging in to run Piedmon through with the crow’s own blades.

“ _Look out!_ ” was all that Piedmon heard before the battle stopped, and a sickening squelch sounded through the air. The clown then hesitantly turned as he saw Flamemon’s back towards him, the tips of the Karatenmon’s golden blades sticking out a little as the digimon fell backward towards the ground once the crow let go of them, the look on the shopkeeper’s face being horrified at what he had done. As Piedmon saw that the crowd was stunned by the little digimon’s sacrifice, especially since the blades had hit fatal marks in Flamemon’s heart and stomach, the clown panicked and quickly knelt down by the digimon, all four of his own swords hovering in the air around them and ready to strike if anyone dared to attack. Pulling the twin blades out of Flamemon’s body and throwing them to the side, Piedmon’s eyes started to well up with tears as he tried to keep Flamemon from dying and staunch the wounds with his own hands.

“Flamemon!” he said, before summoning Bruce’s bag to his side and doing his best to try and help the young rookie, “Flamemon, please stay with me!”

Anubismon however, stood behind Piedmon, the grim look upon his face letting the mob know that Flamemon had little time left, while the mob also stood looking confused as their hated Prince wept and tried to help one digimon.

“Piedmon?” Flamemon then asked, while his eyes started to grow dark.

“Don’t you say a word.” the clown said as he tried to use a repair disk on the young digimon again, only for it to heal only a small amount of damage than what was needed at the moment. Flamemon however, didn’t listen as he continued to speak again.

“If things go okay with Aldamon… do… do you think I could travel with you on GranLocomon?”

Piedmon stopped what he was doing, stunned by the question as he felt the tears fall from his eyes, and land on the young Flamemon as his body started to turn into bits of data.

“Y-Yes.” Piedmon then choked out, much to the mob’s further surprise, “Yes, I would love for you to travel with me…”

“Thank… thank you…” was all Flamemon said, before closing his eyes and turning into millions of data bits, that then headed towards Anubismon’s hand, the Judge of the Dead glaring at the mob while Piedmon looked up at the winged jackal, unsure what would happen next.

“This… this young digimon, Flamemon.” Anubismon growled as the bits of data formed into what seemed like a glowing crystal ball, “Was the only one among you to actually not be an idiot and go into a blind rage over _one single digimon._ And now, that one digimon, the only one among the lot of you who actually had some brains, has bravely sacrificed himself to protect someone he saw as a friend, rather than the _Fiend_ you made him out to be!” 

Anubismon then focused on Flamemon’s shinging digi-core, but finding himself unable to give the dead digimon a chance to turn back into an egg. His eyes then widened as he sensed that Flamemon had contained an anomaly, and was unsure what it meant as all nine digital knights, and their partners were together. Of course, he then realized that despite being born in the digital world, Flamemon had counted as a Witchelny Digimon, and was out of his jurisdiction after all. Before he could comment however, a small rip opened up in the night sky above the crowd, showing a child’s closet filled with clothes and several toys scattered about.

“What… what’s going on?” Piedmon then asked, before seeing Flamemon’s Digi Core flash and form a red egg decorated with the runes representing Witchelny‘s four elemental Clans, Eneruge, Aquary, Earthlin, and Baluluna, before rising up towards the rip. Anubismon however, was stunned into silence and couldn’t answer as he watched the scene along with the mob that had been out for blood just moments before.

“Flamemon…” Piedmon then said before shouting and reaching towards the egg itself, _“FLAMEMON!”_ As he could do nothing but watch as the egg passed through to the world of humans and the rip closing behind it, the clown’s tears rushed down his masked face and fell onto the ground as he sadly accepted what had just happened.

His first friend from what he considered the remnants of his old home of Witchelny, had just been taken from him. Flamemon had willingly sacrificed himself to keep Piedmon alive, and now as far as he knew that friend was gone forever.

The clown then snapped his fingers, calling his blades to his side as he rose up into the air over the crowd, glaring down at the mob that had done nothing to help prevent this tragedy.

“Damn you…” he said as his red eyes glowed, his blades pointed towards the crowd while Anubismon stayed put in the center of the group, the Judge himself looking a little scared of the pissed off clown, “DAMN _ALL_ OF YOU! It’s _your_ fault an innocent died this night. _Your_ fault, not mine, that Flamemon chose to protect someone from a murderous lot such as you, and _your_ fault that the King shall have to learn what has happened. Your _idiotic_ quest for my blood has let an innocent die, and all you can do is just stand and gawk in confusion as you fail, _once again,_ to see that I am not the monster you all believed. I am no _villain,_ nor is your beloved king a _hero._ I was nothing more than a hated individual to you, with no _true cause_ for such hate, and I am now nothing more than the simple entertainer who was once a Prince, and managed to win the heart of a kind, loving, and _forgiving_ Princess. I was never a _monster._ I was, and still am, only _myself._ Think about that, won’t you?”

Piedmon said nothing more as he hovered over them a moment longer, before flying towards the castle, his four swords flying after him as he was ready to battle his own brother for the lives of his friends, if it came to that. The mob did nothing as the clown ranted towards them, his words having stung hard as a few even seemed uncertain about why they wanted to kill Piedmon in the first place. As for Anubismon, he said nothing and left the mob to their own problems, spreading his wings and flying towards his home.

~~000~~

Outside the doorless castle, Piedmon landed on the grass just outside, his blades sheathing themselves before he got down to business.

“Aldamon!” he shouted, “You wanted to see me, so here I stand outside your home! Let me in Brother, as there are things you must answer for at _once!_ "

Piedmon watched as the castle then opened up in front of him, every single brick moving out of the way through the use of some very ancient and powerful Witchelny magic. Once there was an entrance large enough for him, the masked clown went inside, and for a moment, thought that something had entered with him. Of course, he then saw that once the wall sealed itself shut behind him, the bricks inside the castle started rearranging themselves, some becoming platforms floating in mid air, while some of the bricks towered over Piedmon.

The mystical Pierrot however, was undeterred, and so he simply stepped, and jumped, and went right over them as he headed straight for where he assumed the throne room might be.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, underneath the castle, Bruce Davidson was catching his breath after an unknown amount of time wandering the dungeon he and his friends ended up separated in. While he and FanBeemon had been able to stick together, Bruce had to stop every now and then to cough out the dust that had been floating through the air. Once he was done with another coughing fit however, Bruce soon saw that Percy, Thor and even Roland were up ahead, and he walked towards them while feeling too tired to run. Thor, thankfully noticed this and ran ahead to pick the boy up, before carrying him back to what turned out to be the landing for the stairs leading upward, that was also next to a desk that was currently unoccupied.

No one said a word as they moved up, only to find that there was no door out, and only a brick wall. Thor, after setting down Bruce and having the boy cover his nose and mouth to prevent more dust from making him have another coughing fit, then tried to smash the wall with Mjolnir, only to find that the brick was tougher than it looked as Mjolnir could only make a barely visible scratch.

“I assume this is a part of the magic Aldamon used to send us down here.” Thor said, before looking at Percy, “Do you think that your Norn stone could allow us to escape?”

“It should… since it’s meant to get me out of tight spots, protect against magic, or break out of prison… but…” Percy said, before becoming quite panicked as he ran back down the stairs… “I… I can’t risk it. I’m sorry!”

Thor said nothing, remembering what happened when the boy used his pendant to free the Asgardian warrior from Lillithmon’s prison of crystal, and also how that very prison exploded and nearly killed Percy. As the teen was apparently troubled by this and most likely afraid that another explosion could occur, Thor simply followed the boy with Bruce and Roland back down to the dungeon. There however, was desk that had been empty.

Emphasis on “had” as now, there was a stranger resting his blue boots on the wooden desk top, while also leaning back in a chair as he had his hands behind his head which was covered by a hood that not only showed part of the stranger’s face, but also a pair of glowing white eyes. The hood, and the rest of the cloak it was attached to, was black, with a yellow symbol on the chest depicting a tree. As the stranger was whistling to himself, he didn’t seem to notice he had company until he calmly looked their way and smiled.

“Hiya!” he said, before waving at them with a red, gloved hand and pulling his feet off the desk as he stood up and dusted himself off. Thor knew immediately that this wasn’t Captain America in disguise, as he would have known if Steve had followed them, not to mention that the stranger’s voice was very different from the super soldier’s, in fact, it sounded a bit younger to the Asgardian. Thor, feeling like this may lead to trouble, tightened his grip on Mjolnir as he prepared for a fight.

“Who are you?” Thor then asked, giving the stranger only one chance to prove he’s not an enemy.

“Oh, nothing more than a simple Nomad.” said the stranger as he stretched a bit. “Anyway, I came in here with some clown and… kind of got lost when the owner just started changing up the layout. But, I’m sure once the King confronts a few things, we should be let out… sides, not like we can do anything anyway. Not to mention if we need to kick his ass when we do get out, we can… but only if we wait.”

Thor grudgingly realized that the confusing stranger was right, and sighed as he loosened his grip on Mjolnir. As he sat down, he then noticed that the boys and Roland seemed tired out as well, watching them rest after going through the maze Aldamon had sent them into.

All Thor could do now it seemed, was wait and hope Piedmon could get them out of there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right, so this chapter was fun to write, but also heartbreaking when it came to the death scene. Also, I hope Piedmon's speech to the mob isn't well, cheesy.
> 
> Next time: The brothers finally encounter each other.


	15. The Beast- Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After 45 years, Piedmon finally confronts his brother Aldamon. But, what will happen because of this encounter?

Piedmon raced through the palace halls, stepping, jumping and simply going over each and every obstacle placed in his path by his brother Aldamon. The clown’s heart had been filled with rage after the death of his first friend in Witchelny- even if it was just remnants of his old home, and Piedmon’s red eyes glowed brightly as he moved with purpose. He wanted to give his brother a piece of his mind now, especially as the clown had learned the King had done nothing to help his people and had instead decided to hide away like a coward.

Out of the corner of his eye however, he looked at the walls to see dusty paintings showing moments of their lives in Witchelny, and the memories they had brought up as well.

The first painting he noticed showed the day the brothers were adopted by Medieval Dukemon and that was something Piedmon only vaguely remembered presently. It was a happy occasion- that much he knew, but he also had a nagging feeling that something else happened that day that led to the citizens despising him for even the most improbable of reasons, and his father being distant at best.

He also saw moments that showed his brother in the foreground, surrounded by digimon from their home while out in the street, while in the background, Piedmon- as a hideous and hooded digimon known as Phantomon then, hovered in the background covered in trash, bandages, or even dogpiled by other digimon for the usual beating. There were also moments showing the clown himself alone in his dark chambers with the full moon shining through the window, while his brother in his time as Vritramon- a rather beastly looking digimon that, while humanoid, was not so easy on the eyes even with the mask required to be worn by Witchelny Nobles, was in the well lit halls of their old home in the City of Aleister’s castle and enjoying the company of others. Of course, Piedmon knew that his brother had eventually used magic to make himself better looking as Aldamon, but in any even the clown himself didn’t care. Even paintings depicting the war, and the clown’s banishment weren’t very helpful in disrupting his foul mood, even if they depicted the clown in a sympathetic light- most likely done by Aldamon himself as the clown knew no citizen of Witchelny would do such a thing, even if ordered to by the king they so loved.

All they did for Piedmon in the end, was give him more focus on his objective to confront his brother and try and make amends for their past, the bad memories he ended up remembering doing nothing but hardening his heart more for what was to come. Soon, he found the Throne room and kicked the large double doors open, hoping to see his brother sitting on the ornate golden throne and waiting for the fallen prince.

Sadly, Piedmon was all alone, and the tarnished throne was empty and covered in cobwebs.

“Hello Brother.” Aldamon’s voice than rang out from the hall itself, causing Piedmon to look around to try and see where his brother was hiding, while the clown crossed his arms, “The Fallen Prince of Witchelny, hated by all no matter what he did to try and help. It’s sad how cold you had become, my brother. I… I bet you were lonely all along.”

“You really wouldn’t know, since you forced yourself into isolation.” Piedmon said dryly before giving a dramatic sigh and spread his arms out in a shrug as he stepped closer to the door while his four blades hovered around the clown in case of trouble. “Too scared to declare but you gave it a flair, to repair the affair of the words that were really unfair.”

“Impressive tongue twister, however… I seriously do not understand what you mean.” Aldamon said, his tone even sounding clueless as the clown simply groaned and muttered a few choice words about how no one appreciated a good and poetic accusation nowadays, before he went on to explain the meaning behind them.

“I’m saying, my dear, clueless brother, that you didn’t do a damn thing to make amends, and instead just hid away in this palace like a coward.” Piedmon said rather bluntly, “In fact, _I would_ envy the pieces stacked so carefully with love, so meticulously folded one on top of the other, but I now see that the time spent since my exile has been handled better on my part for the past forty five years than your own self imposed isolation had been after you destroyed our home. I just simply do not know when or where exactly everything went wrong.”

“I _chose_ to be locked inside a lonely castle that I had built all for myself, and the doors I would close to hide away my selfish pride!” Aldamon’s voice snapped then, while Piedmon simply “hmphed” in contempt.

“Why would you do something as stupid as that, you hot-headed corona of irresponsibility?” Piedmon then asked, “I honestly think you’ve mistaken pride with something else.”

“When I first ascended the throne with father’s blessing, I thought it was the best thing I had ever happen to me. With my newfound strength and immortal body, I felt as if there was nothing I couldn’t achieve!” Aldamon’s voice rang out, at first trying to protest his brother’s words, before he sadly began to lament his own actions, “Instead… I only brought Ruin instead of the Prosperity everyone believed I would bring to Witchelny, as Baromon foretold in ancient times. After I caused the war, after I exiled you to save your life, and later brought our home it’s destruction, my own pride got the better of me as I realized that I had never been able to rely on myself like you could, Piedmon.”

Piedmon said nothing while he kept his expression neutral as his brother continued, out of both respect for the King admitting his mistakes, and also out of a lack of good insults he could fling towards his brother’s childishness.

“That is why I could not forgive the fact that I needed the help of others to live.” Aldamon’s voice then said, followed by a few moments of silence before he hesitantly asked, “Piedmon… did you ever despise me for exiling you, even if it was to spare you from being executed by our people?”

“There are things I would rather leave unsaid, but I have changed since my arrival to the digital world.” Piedmon said calmly despite the red glow still in his eyes, “I have gained a fear of losing every precious thing I had, especially after meeting my first friend, GranLocomon and later the love of my life, Venusmon. I never even knew I loved her at first when she originally let me stay as her court magician, but… as I grew to know her, and she to me, I learned what it was like, and… I admit that actual love is an amazing, yet painful thing, Aldamon.”

Finally the King appeared in his lonesome castle, and was amazed by his brother’s first beautiful taste of love. Aldamon, despite the sorry state of his appearance as Piedmon immediately noticed the rust and tarnish on his armor, the lack of any actual life in his fiery wings and the yellowed horns adorning his mask, then tried to smile at his brother even if the king’s blue eyes seemed rather lifeless still.

“Brother, I’m glad you managed to move past your hardened heart, as I think I know how you felt in the past… well, when we were still at home in Witchelny together.” Aldamon then said, hoping that his dear brother would thank him.

Piedmon however, did not return the smile as the clown had instead felt rather insulted by the King’s words.

“Spare me from your sympathy, because I really doubt you would ever understand!” Piedmon had then said, swiping at the air as if batting away the insult he perceived. Aldamon however flinched, as he had not expected that reaction.

“Brother, I let myself go into isolation to atone for the trouble I’ve caused and you received the blame for!” Aldamon then said, “I was the one who earned the hatred of all of Witchelny!”

“Oh please, you’re as loved as you have always been.” Piedmon said in disgust, “Even when I have changed, I am still the one who is despised, and when one digimon in Little Witchelny actually stood up for me after I helped him first, when your subjects _once again_ tried to kill me, I thought that perhaps, after all this time I finally had a friend in Witchelny. But while you were hiding away in your castle like a frightened babe, that one digimon, that one, truly kind and sensible digimon, Flamemon ended up giving his life in order to save my own from being taken.”

Aldamon was silent as he listened to his brother’s choked out words, the king’s expression showing actual shock and then regret over how he had not known what his subjects had been doing while he waited for Piedmon to arrive.

“In order for you to truly grow, and even truly change despite your hardships as I have learned, King Aldamon, is when you had to bite and you fight and you grab and you stab but you still managed to get what you dearly wanted in the end. Nothing gets better if you hide and hope your problems will get better on their own without you. You have to actively try and protect what is most dear to you in order to even attempt to change at all.” Piedmon then said, his voice cold towards his trembling brother, “During my travels after my exile, I would gaze at the outer world so unified by love, but the one thing I failed to see was the most important thing, and my soul so familiar to the loneliness inside, glowered at the pool of sun as it collected at my feet once I reached Venusmon’s castle and managed to make her smile again after her own depression.”

“What do you mean, brother?” Aldamon cried once he managed to get a hold of himself, “What was ‘the most important thing?’ What is this ‘pool of sun’ that you speak of?”

“My treatment in Witchelny, that your paintings so _lovingly_ reminded me of dear brother, had hardened my heart to the point I couldn’t identify love and kindness in the digital world at first, much less who were friends I considered close to my heart, and who were actually my enemies. That was the most important thing.” Piedmon then explained, his tone filled with a bite that Aldamon had not seen in quite a long time, “As for the ‘pool of sun,’ that is the goodness of Venusmon’s kind, gentle and forgiving heart, who softened my own as I got to know her, until the confusion what what I felt for her actually caused me physical pain until she explained them to me! When she told me she loved me that day in the garden of her palace, that was the first time I have ever felt true, and actual love from another digimon, and it is nothing like the blind, fanatical devotion you have received, Aldamon.”

Aldamon then realized, as his brother’s words stung him and brought pain to his own heart, that while trapped in his selfish pride and trying to be the hated ruler he felt he deserved to be, that he had spent too many dark years in solitude. The king then closed his eyes and after burning off the cobwebs on his throne, sat down and focused in order to restore the castle to its normal layout. He then waved a hand and from the dungeon, released Piedmon’s allies and the cloaked stranger and brought them straight to the Throne room, before solemnly looking at the clown’s companions and silently apologized for his behavior earlier. The King also remained silent as his brother was introduced to the two new faces among his original companions, and also Aldamon’s first introduction to the mysterious Nomad, who he did not recall ever seeing before with the others. Once the introductions were finished, Aldamon then stood and led them out of the castle himself, opening up the main hall Percy and his friends had first encountered Aldamon, and for the first time in years, joined them outside in the open air. The youngest of the group, Bruce, seemed to be relieved as he took in several deep breaths after spending hours in the dusty castle, and just enjoyed the clean air of the outside world.

Of course, the group then noticed that there was a crowd waiting outside, the shopkeeper Karatenmon tied up while the villagers’ faces all showed either sadness over the recent death or shock at seeing their king and their despised victim Piedmon standing together so casually. One of the villagers then stepped forward: a fiery wizard looking digimon with goggles on his flaming hat, and two matchsticks at his side: one red, the other blue. Of course, his face was exposed, showing the stitches on the sides of his mouth and when he spoke, the thick white threads stretching and contracting away rather disturbingly.

“King Aldamon,” said the mage, “I am FlaWizarmon, and I speak for all of Little Witchelny to ask for your forgiveness for our unforeseen actions in the death of young Flamemon, and have decided to offer his killer, Karatenmon, to your judgement.”

Aldamon said nothing at first, while Piedmon’s companions (except Nomad), seemed to look confused as they realized they missed something. When the King finally spoke however, his words shook his subjects thoroughly.

“Everyone… please… I… I don’t deserve to be your king.” he said, “I’ve been a terrible ruler, I’ve brought nothing but Ruin to you, and I don’t deserve any of the love you’ve given me in the past.”

“What are you saying?!” FlaWizarmon said, while the crowd looked ready to start another riot, “As long as Little Witchelny exists, then our home is not truly gone! In fact, there’s still a chance for you to bring us prosperity, if you allow us to work with you! Unless…”

The mage’s expression soon changed as he looked to Piedmon, becoming suspicious as he pointed the red matchstick in his hand at the clown. “Piedmon! You’ve enchanted the king like you did before the war, didn’t you?!”

Piedmon, as well as the people he came to Little Witchelny with GranLocomon all facepalmed at the stupidity, while Roland the Aegiomon simply looked confused as usual and Nomad was just trying very hard not to laugh.

As Thor, Percy, Kudamon, and Fanbeemon then got ready for a fight along with the mob, Roland did his best to keep Bruce out of it, while Nomad moved out of the way to avoid being hit by either side. Thankfully however, before the mob could strike, Aldamon moved between them and his brother’s friends, causing the villagers to literally screech to a halt out of an inability to dare strike their king.

“If you want to see a fight,” their ruler then said, “Then we’ll have one the _Witchelny way_ to avoid spilling more blood as Karatenmon did earlier.”

“Uh… what’s the Witchelny Way?” Roland then asked, causing Percy and also Thor to groan before the two said in unison: “Musical Duel.”

Suddenly, Anubismon forced open the shutters of a window, sticking his head out and quickly covering his house with a force field before screaming, “YOU FOOLS! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU’VE DONE!?” just as everyone gathered started to hear music that quickly grew louder. Looking up at the sky, they saw Voltamon with a band of digimon playing music on top of a giant blimp digimon. The band itself consisted of a Puppetmon on violin, a digimon piloting a small clock robot playing the drums, and a purple rubbery dragon digimon with a red vest and a gold ring on its tail playing the trumpet. There were other digimon the group couldn’t see right off the bat, each playing a different instrument, but as only Bruce seemed to see- once everyone was distracted by the anchor falling down, bouncing off the shield around Anubismon’s home and landing in the moat around the castle, was that what looked like Wisemon acting as conductor before disappearing once the digimon turned and saw the travelers. Voltamon then slid down the rope and landed on the ground, grinning at the gathered crowd.

“Oi, Voltamon.” Percy then said, “Where’s your Unicorn, and why didn’t you just do that volcano thing like earlier?”

“I don’t like recycling entrances many times in a row.” The musical demon then said, while Aldamon and even Roland seemed confused. Piedmon however, didn’t seem to care as he was paying more attention to Voltamon’s clothes than anything else, “Besides, Blimpmon needed a flight anyway when I heard that there’d be a musical duel. So tell me, who’s dueling?”

“They are!” The mob said, pointing towards Aldamon and Piedmon, causing both to flinch and look at the mob.

“Excuse me?” both brothers then said together, and tried to protest the idea, which unfortunately fell on death ears as FlaWizarmon started gaining the crowd’s attention.

“Think about it everyone!” the fiery mage then said, “A duel between the King and the Prince of Ruin! It’d be an epic way to decide who’d truly get to rule what’s left of Witchelny, and also a good way to remember Flamemon!”

The crowd roared, making Piedmon’s protests that the duel wouldn’t be like that to go unheard. Once the villagers did die down however, the King sighed and gave a nervous smile to his brother.

“Well… it’d certainly be like old times, wouldn’t it?” he asked, “In fact, now that I think about it… I wouldn’t mind having one last ‘battle’ with you, just to see how much we’ve really changed before you, and your companions leave.”

“Oh very well, you do have a point.” Piedmon said with a sigh, before smiling and calmly warping behind his companions and pushing them ahead as he started heading back to GranLocomon with them, and even surprising Thor who hadn’t expected such an act of strength from the clown. “In any case, I’ll see you for our duel… oh, tomorrow afternoon outside the village. My instrument of choice is inside GranLocomon after all, and I do not think he’d like being dismantled in order to move it. Besides, it’s late and ‘there are things I’d rather leave unsaid’ if we are to get any proper preparations done.”

Aldamon simply gave a pained smile and nodded as he watched the crowd disperse and let the clown and his allies through, followed by Nomad whistling to himself as well as the cloaked stranger followed after them. The mob then went home, leaving Aldamon alone with Voltamon, who seemed to notice that the king looked troubled.

“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Voltamon then asked, “Heard you’ve been a bit out of practice when it comes to playing.”

“I’m positive.” Aldamon said, “I’ve spent twenty five years listening to past recordings of our duels, and I know full well how my brother plays in them. Besides, at least in music we have some equal footing, since Piedmon and I both know he could kick my tail if we used only magic.”

“Well, if you say so.” Voltamon then said with a shrug, before flying up to Blimpmon and raising the anchor, before leaving the King of Little Witchelny alone, outside his castle. Anubismon himself, had waited until Blimpmon was no where near his house before he dropped the shield, and closed the window before going to bed.

“Yes,” Aldamon then whispered to himself, looking at the train on the other side of town, and seeing the tiny shape of his brother Piedmon head inside, before stopping to look back at the village. “I know it was your way of showing love, when we’ve had our old duels.”

Quietly the king retreated into his castle and felt the emotions threaten from inside his lonely heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry this didn't have a fight for those expecting a brawl between Piedmon and Aldamon but think about it this way: Aldamon has most likely been out of practice for a quarter century, while Piedmon's been able to keep his skill up throughout his whole exile. It just wouldn't be a fair fight now would it?
> 
> Anywho, next time on Digivengers: An intermission before the finale of this mini-arc, where our combatants will give their thoughts about the battle to come, and also a little peek into Nomad's identity.


	16. The Beast- Intermission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preperations before the duel between brothers. Also, Nomad gets a visitor.

It was they day of the Musical Duel between Piedmon and King Aldamon, two brothers treated completely different after their adoption by Medieval Dukemon. While the duel was to take place that afternoon, the morning sun had all but Thor waking up bright and early in anticipation for the battle.

In fact, while Thor was snoozing inside GranLocomon, Bruce, FanBeemon and Roland were outside the train, the young boy and his partner trying to get the satyr more used to walking as he kept stumbling around with his goat legs whenever the Aegiomon tried to walk like a normal human. Bruce was standing at one end of the train, encouraging Roland as he moved, while FanBeemon was flying behind the satyr to help him up when he stumbled. Of course, Roland did find it humiliating as it was like teaching a little baby to walk, when he felt he was more of an adult.

However, the combination of Bruce’s sweetness and FanBeemon’s very sharp looking stinger motivated Roland to not complain. Mainly out of fear of getting hit by the large, and serrated stinger.

Meanwhile, on top of GrandLocomon, Nomad was sitting on the edge and watching over the trio, and also the town when he noticed things starting to slow down around him, as well as the appearance of several iridescent butterflies. Nomad turned his head as he watched them form the masked figure of Swallowtail the Atoner, and the world around them turning very still as well as black and white while time was stopped.

“Hello Swallowtail, surprised you didn’t get GranLocomon to notice you before your trick.” Nomad then said with a smile.

“I’m a living swarm of digital butterflies, remember? I can go unnoticed pretty easily.” Swallowtail said dryly, while the cloaked stranger merely shrugged.

“So, what do you want?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” Swallowtail then said, crossing his arms and looking down at Nomad, “You did cause that little replacement to the Captain’s original trial, and also altered Beezlemon’s trial as well while they were in the Tunnel of Regrets.”

“Didn’t want them to fall in despair in the Ring of Hope.” Nomad then said, “I mean, Cap was originally face an amalgamation of the Red Skull, the Digital Devil himself, Baron Zemo and Dracula, while everyone he cares about are all dead around him.”

“I don’t even know who the first three you mentioned are. I’m not of this Digital World, remember?” Swallowtail said, sounding a bit annoyed with the laid back stranger.

“Eh, it was before your time anyway, Butterfly Boy.” Nomad said before laying back on the train and looking at the frozen Monitamon nearby. “So… can they see us talking right now?”

“They cannot and in fact, our conversation will just seem like a visual glitch for those watching the Broadcast in the human world.” Swallowtail then said, while Nomad sat back up and sighed.

“Geeze, you must really want to keep folks in the dark, don’t you? Not to mention, I’m enjoying myself here.” Nomad then said, causing Swallowtail to stamp his foot on the train’s roof.

“You shouldn’t even be wandering around!” The masked mass of glowing butterflies said, “Nor should you be messing with destiny in certain events of the Digital World!”

“Oh come on!” Nomad said as he threw his arms up into the air, “I’ve been trying to keep this place together since the whole mess with Zola and the Gulfmon Incident. Don’t you think I should be more active than other God AIs out there in the multiverse and, oh I don’t know, _fix what’s broken?_ Besides, with Diamondback showing up a decade ago when Chaosmon was summoned to the human world, only to drag her back here with it when his time limit ran out, followed by the Digital Knights arriving with a few of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes recently? I think Destiny’s become fair game.”

“You just don’t want to accidentally cause Damon to show up and get your face punched in this universe too, don’t you?” Swallowtail said flatly.

“That, and I just know it’d drive you-know-who nuts as they try and break through the Kernel’s ever changing passwords.” Nomad said with a grin, “Nine hundred and ninety nine layers of security, with passwords changing with each character put in. Got the idea from what Rhinemon did with her seals, and just like them, each time you get a password wrong, it’s back to the beginning.”

“Vi- I mean _the enemy,_ may just try hunting you down once they figure out you’re not even in the Kernel anymore.” Swallowtail said, quickly avoiding who he was talking about once he saw the glare Nomad was giving him, “Are you ever going to let us say his name?”

“Hell no.” Nomad then said, “Besides, that… _thing_... was a huge mistake on my part, and I don’t want anyone to figure out what it almost did before I locked it away… well until someone let it loose that is.”

“You’re a strange one…” Swallowtail then sighed, “And I’m not sure if your presence will be good or bad for the Destiny of the Digital World.”

Nomad was silent at first, not sure if Swallowtail was jabbing at him or not, but he then shrugged and decided to change the subject. “So, who do you think will in the duel?”

“1000 bits on Aldamon, and you better not cheat, ‘Nomad’ you’ve probably done enough of that already.” Swallowtail said.

“Me? Cheat just to win a few bits? Swallowtail, I’m hurt you’d think that I was low enough to do such a thing! Besides, Witchelny’s out of my jurisdiction anyway.” Nomad said, before the two shook hands and Swallowtail soon left. Nomad then returned to his position before time stopped and watched it resume, everyone but him unaware of his private chat.

~~000~~

Meanwhile in GranLocomon’s control room, Percy was helping Piedmon prepare for the upcoming Duel, with the clown working on tuning the keyboard and the white haired teen handing him the tools he needed while Kudamon rested on his partner’s neck.

“Tuning Hammer please.” Piedmon said, holding his hand out as Percy placed the long, socket wrench-like tool in it. As the clown used it to tighten a few loose strings, the teen decided to ask a few questions.

“So, what sort of styles do you both use, in terms of music I mean?” Percy started off, with Piedmon still working away as he spoke.

“Well, I myself specialize in the piano, organ, harpsichord, and other instruments relying on keys.” the clown said, “Though, I did dabble with the flute, guitar, violin, dulcimer, sitar, and a very short and much hated stint with the banjo that I really do not wish to speak of ever again. As for Aldamon, because his arm mounted Rudri Tarpana made certain instruments difficult to play, such as the violin and piano, my brother had to focus on things like the drums, guitar, and brass instruments like the trumpet or trombone, while he despises the Tuba.”

“What, no accordion?” Percy asked before snickering a bit.

“Ah, yes! Thank you for reminding me!” Piedmon said cheerfully, “I did learn to play it successfully and it was in fact, Medieval Dukemon’s favorite instrument… for some reason. Sadly, Aldamon ended up piercing the diaphragm each time he tried. Happens when you have sharp shells over your guns that also extend over the back of your hand by a few inches.”

“I was actually joking before about the accordion thing.” Percy said flatly, before looking a bit confused as he thought about the clown’s words. “Wait. If you were hated, how did you even manage to be taught anything back in Witchelny?”

“I had to sneak around at night and teach myself while Aldamon received all the tutors and education. I even had to poke around in my brother’s text books when no one was around just to learn what he did. In fact, I used my methods to learn and master all four schools of Witchelny magic: Eneruge for fire, Aquary for water, Earthlin for well, earth, and Baluluna for air…. as well as develop my own tricks to use, of course.” Piedmon said, “Though, when it came to music, I’d sneak into the music hall and practice what I heard, trying to get it right until I played it perfectly by ear, while Aldamon always required sheet music since he could read it, but I cannot since well, no one really told me what each note or symbol stood for.”

“So, you’re a Performer while Aldamon’s a Technician.” Percy said crossing his arms as Piedmon finished his work and moved out from under the keyboard. “You show off and can pull off variations in how you play music if you wanted to, while Aldamon sounds like he’s more by the books, and probably can’t do anything if he was forced to improvise.”

“Hmm, I like that comparison actually.” Piedmon said as he rubbed his chin in thought, before standing up and stretching a bit, “Plus, I do enjoy performing for an audience, even when I’m not playing music.”

“So…” Percy then said, “Why does Aldamon only know one school of magic, when he had all the teachers?”

“It’s simply because he was originally from the clan his school was named for, when Medieval Dukemon adopted us.” Piedmon said, “I myself, was not from a specific clan as far as I knew, and I feel that may have played into my magical ability. Of course, if I put my mind to something, I could easily pick it up be it magical, musical, or even martial that I wanted to try and learn. Despite my talent unfortunately, I was still despised by everyone as when I wasn’t beaten or hit with garbage, they would insult me by calling me ugly, freak, a clan-less prince, doom bringer, tradition breaker, a ‘menace to society’ whenever I tried to help someone out and do good like my brother, and one time a very drunk citizen called me a ‘dairy farmer’ of all things.”

“He probably fought like a cow anyway.” Percy said, earning a laugh from the clown. “Speaking of Alcohol, how is it you can just conjure up some brandy when Beezlemon said there wasn’t any thing like that in the digital world?”

“I assume he lied because like all demon digimon and even very observant individuals like myself, he could sense Tony’s trauma would turn quite ugly if he allowed himself to get drunk.” The clown said before giving a chuckle, “Plus, just between you and me Percy, I find it quite fun to annoy Mister Stark by drinking brandy and hiding it within a pocket dimension when the man comes near.”

The two then laughed, Percy deciding to keep the clown’s secret safe before he asked his final question.

“So, what happens exactly in a Witchelny Music Duel?”

“Well, it starts with the two duelists coming on stage, or in this case the battle field before the Judge arrives. Then, the Judge explains the cause of the duel, and asks for a wager from each combatant.” Piedmon began, “Once the wagers are cast, the duelists are then given the option of whether or not they will have a band backing them up, which can result in a duel of soloists, a band versus a solo, or a regular battle of the bands as it varies from duel to duel. Next, the duelists use a combination of magical and musical ability to create and empower their avatars as they each play a song, and depending on how well they perform, how much their heart is in it, and most importantly how much the audience enjoys it, the Avatar’s abilities will be affected. After that stage, both sides then play at the same time, letting their avatars battle until one manages to outlast and defeat the other, with the magicians on either side doing their best to play and keep up their avatar’s strength.”

“That… sounds kind of complicated.” Percy said as he felt a headache coming on, and then both he and Piedmon noticed that Kudamon seemed uneasy ever since the clown had mentioned Medieval Dukemon.

“Something wrong, little Kudamon?” the clown then asked, only for the little bullet weasel to explain about what he ended up doing to Witchelny’s previous ruler under the influence of Parasimon. Piedmon, once the tale was over, was stunned at first, before nodding and gently tapping the small digimon’s head with a finger.

“It’s all in the past now,” Piedmon said gently, “I’ve stopped bearing grudges for a while now, especially towards those that show remorse as you do. So, don’t let your guilt eat you from within. You could end up like my brother.”

“Thank you.” Kudamon said quietly as he gave a tiny smile, and the group then went back to work preparing for the upcoming duel.

~~000~~

Meanwhile in Aldamon’s chambers, the King had spent just about the whole night practicing for the duel that afternoon, and as Kuzuhamon opened the door to check on him, was able to witness the king finishing a bit of trumpet practice, and noticed him keeping track of his tempo and memorizing the sheet music due to being out of practice for a while.

“Witchmon filled me in on how the Duel will work,” she said in order to gain the King’s attention, “Are you considering what you might wager as well as whether or not you’ll be playing alone?”

“Yes.” the King said, as he then picked up a guitar “I know what I’ll bet, Kuzuhamon, but I intend on playing alone like my brother did in our past duels, while I always had assistance from others. Even then we were still evenly matched, but this time it will just be between me and him.”

“You’re majesty, you seem rather tired.” the priestess then said, “Maybe you should rest?”

“I’ve always had to rely on others.” the king said while ignoring Kuzuhamon’s words, “Because I got everything I wanted, because no one told me no, I couldn’t properly rule over Witchelny. I’ve admired my brother’s tenacity and self-reliance, and I’ve spent years alone to be more like him.”

“Piedmon, I’m pretty sure was hated, while you are well loved Aldamon.” Kuzuhamon said, causing the king to stand and flare up as he turned to face her.

“Why though!?” he asked in anger, “Why was I always loved, even after everything I’ve done, while Piedmon was the hated one, even when we were young and he was still a Strabimon he would be abused and punished for doing the right thing? Being loved has become meaningless to me, Kuzuhamon, so why? Why the hell can’t I be hated or chastised? Why can’t anyone tell me I did the wrong thing, or punish me for my sins? Why does everyone still love me after I destroyed our home!?”

“I wish I knew.” Kuzuhamon said, “But, I was a native to the digital world that was welcomed to your village two years ago. I do not understand your people’s love for you, but I can still see you have a good heart.”

“You’re wrong.” Aldamon said, “Now please, leave me be. I need to rest before the duel.”

“As you wish.” Kuzuhamon said in annoyance as she turned to leave. “In any case…. good luck.”

She then closed the door and wandered the hall, smiling to herself as she thought about how blind love and loyalty for one brother and rabid hatred for the other had caused both of them nothing but trouble as well as caused trouble for Witchelny. The priestess then wondered if perhaps this duel would shed some light on the strange curse upon the princes of the destroyed world, and also expose the truth of how it began.

If it didn’t, then it should at least be very entertaining to watch, if she had the chance to do so.

~~000~~

Eventually, it was time for the duel to begin, Aldamon and the whole of Little Witchelny having gathered outside the village and yet seeing no sign of Piedmon as his companions left the train to join the audience.

“Where is my brother hiding?” Aldamon said a bit impatiently while holding his guitar as he tried to find the missing clown. Suddenly, someone shouted and pointed towards the top of GranLocomon, and the audience and even the king watched as Piedmon appeared to rise out of the train, with a large keyboard in front of him.

“Greetings, King Aldamon.” Piedmon then said with a bow, before leaping off the roof and landing gently on the curled toes of his boots before the gathered crowd. Of course, it was then that the last person to arrive decided to appear: with the judge for the duel, Voltamon bursting out of the ground with a pair of ghostly Bakemon, and quickly using magic to repair the hole he made.

“Alright then!” The demonic musician then said, “This duel between the Fallen Prince Piedmon and King Aldamon of Witchelny is to decide the fate of Karatenmon, who needlessly murdered the young Flamemon last night.”

The majority of the audience quickly cheered for their king, while most of Piedmon’s companions, Nomad and Roland decided to cheer for the clown. Though they did earn a few glares from everyone else, they didn’t care as they wanted to support their friend. As for Thor and Anubismon, they had their own thoughts about this whole thing.

“This… is rather silly.” Thor said, “I would rather see them duel with martial skill, than music.”

“Hey, I just want this over with so I can get back to running this crazy town.” Anubismon said, apparently looking a extremely annoyed as he sipped from a very large thermos of coffee.

“Alright you two,” Voltamon then said to the royal brothers of Witchelny once the crowd calmed down, “What do you wager, and will you be playing alone, or with a band?”

“I, King Aldamon will be playing alone, and wager my title as King of Witchelny to be claimed by the winner.” said the handsome beast, shocking everyone in the village as they whispered and wondered how Piedmon would even top their ruler’s sacrifice.

“I, Prince Piedmon shall be at first playing with a band, specifically a few members from your own if you are willing to lend them, Voltamon, as I intend to play Maze of Life for the first half, before continuing on with the duel on my own.” the clown then said causing a few villagers to shout and accuse him of breaking tradition for basically going with both options at once.

“Well, I certainly don’t see a problem with this interesting development” Voltamon said with a shrug, “And as judge, I’ll allow it since well, these two did start the trend so eh, they can do whatever they want to make this battle between them interesting. Now then Piedmon, what will you wager for this duel?”

The clown then gave a solemn smile as he spoke only two words. However, those two words drove the crowd to silence and even caused Percy to worry, along with Aldamon.

“My life.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this chapter we learned a bit about who Nomad really was without saying it, hints that Plutomon may not be the big bad after all, and also, a bit of a twist at the end.
> 
> Will Piedmon win the duel and save his life? Will Aldamon remain King of Witchelny, at the price of losing his brother for good?
> 
> Find out next time on Digivengers!


	17. The Beast- Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piedmon plays against Aldamon like his life depends on it. Mainly because it really does. Also, Flamemon's death ends up having a surprising result within the duel itself...

“My life.”

Those two words had caused silence to fall upon those present to observe the duel between brothers, as Piedmon kept his face neutral while the clown’s companions became worried for their friend. Those who lived in Little Witchelny however, were speechless, as while they had hated the clown, none of them thought he’d be willing to die if he had to.

“Brother…” Aldamon then said after hearing that Piedmon was not only willing to work with others for part of their duel, but also see him willing to sacrifice his own life in case he lost, “Are… why are you wagering your own life? What if you lost? What if our people demanded I kill you after our duel anyway!?”

“There are things that I’d rather leave unsaid.” the clown answered with a smile, “But, when were younger, there were times I was hoping for a love that would never fade away. Ironically, I wouldn’t find that love until after my exile, and later, getting to know Venusmon. Besides, even if this turns out to be my final duel with you, my brother, then I would like to say that now, if I had been given only eternity to do what must be done, I will happily devote myself for the sake of those I love.”

No one said a word, as his companions were still reeling on Piedmon risking his life like this, the citizens of old Witchelny that followed their king to the Digital World were speechless as they had thought Piedmon was nothing but a monster, and began to wonder if he really had changed during his exile after all.

“Okay you two enough stalling with the soap opera.” Voltamon said in a bit of annoyance, “We do have a duel to see, remember? Now, go out there, and give us a show we’ll never forget!”

The two princes of the lost Witchelny then nodded and went to their places, Aldamon on one end of the battle field, while Piedmon- along with Puppetmon, the rubbery purple dragon Gumdramon and the clock-bot drummer Clockmon that were with Voltamon’s band, headed to the top of GranLocomon, carrying the small trumpeter as he levitated up, followed by Puppetmon and Clockmon. Then, after pulling out a large white sheet, he quickly covered the band and pulled it away, showing them ready to play.

Once they were set up, the two duelists then used their magic to create their Avatars, with Aldamon using his Fire to create the small image of a dragon, while Piedmon simply combined Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire to form a simple sphere that shifted and pulsed with each bit of magic keeping it together. Everyone present wondered what the clown was up to, but were unable to ask as they were asked to be silent for now, and let the musicians play, with Voltamon indicating Aldamon go first, as he was after all, still king until the duel ended.

Aldamon kicked it off with a sad, and mournful solo on his acoustic guitar, the fiery king focusing on the sheet music set up on a stand nearby, and the music magically enhanced for everyone to be able to hear it. while an image appeared over the battle field so that the audience could better see the king play. While he had to use his tail to turn the pages so he wouldn’t interrupt his playing, the solo didn’t really do much to effect his avatar’s growth, as it went from a young drake, to a full sized dragon that glowed like a weak ember. The king played his uniform, rigid, and exact piece as it had been composed, and his slow speed made it sound like it was meant to be played at a funeral, until he sped up with the tempo and gave a tiny bit more life to the melody.

Despite all that, his heart just wasn’t in it as the music felt cold and lacking.

Once he ended his opener, the Witchelny portion of the audience politely clapped and cheered for their king while praising his trained skill, which at least gave the weakly burning dragon enough strength to burn as brightly as a campfire, rather than the dying embers it started as while Aldamon played. Percy, Kudamon, Thor, Bruce, FanBeemon, Roland the Aegiomon and Nomad on the other hand, just kept quiet as they didn’t really know what to say about the tune itself other than it was kind of ok.

Then, came Piedmon’s turn, but instead of starting right away, he began planning out how the band would do things, allowing Thor to speak with Percy while he could.

“Just, what is ‘Maze of Life?’ I have not heard of this song.” the Asgardian asked.

“It’s a song used to open a video game back on Earth.” Percy answered, “I guess since this is the Digital World, they know about music from back home thanks to the Internet leaking through to this place.”

“Once again, I must admit that this realm is filled with surprises.” Thor said, before being told to be quiet as Piedmon finally began with a slow intro on the piano, followed by Gumdramon seemingly act a bit lazy as he blew into his trumpet. Then, the music became much more livelier as everyone got involved, with Puppetmon on the violin, Clockmon on the drums- consisting of a basic kit and also some bongos as well, and even GranLocomon projecting two holographic singers: One a woman with pink hair in a black and gold dress with a blue gem at her throat, and the other a teenage boy a little older than Percy with blond hair sort of resembling a bunch of bananas and wearing black, white and yellow clothes.

As the song continued, everyone could see that the group was having fun, especially once Puppetmon really got into it for a brief solo on the violin while Piedmon quickly jammed on the piano once his turn to shine came. Even Thor and Anubismon had to resist the urge to dance as the music held a lot of life within it compared to the previous performance. The audience watched as the music caused Piedmon’s familiar to “hatch” into a feathery winged, dog faced stag that also held some draconic elements, while also still retaining the unified theme of Witchelny’s four schools of magic working together that Piedmon had put into it. In fact, the audience’s cheers while the song was still going had not only caused the elemental effigy to become quite beautiful in its form, but also showed that Piedmon’s heart was backing his ability in full force while cooperating with not just his fellow musicians, but also with the singers provided by the train itself.

Once the song had ended, Piedmon’s avatar was now sporting a beautiful long tail and a grand pair of wings made up of wind and water, while earth and gems made up the body, and streams of fire surrounded its legs, crystal antlers, and it’s tail. Everyone was cheering and even if they couldn’t stand Piedmon they had instead decided to enjoy the music rather than who was playing it.

Of course, with the first half of the duel over, Piedmon’s borrowed band then returned to the audience, with Voltamon waiting until they were clear of the battle field before putting a magic shield in front of the audience and himself, and signalling the two duelists to get ready within five minutes.

During this time, Piedmon quickly covered his piano before removing the sheet, and revealed that the insturment and controls for GranLocomon transformed into something more battle ready. Instead of the simple, if bulky control console it originally looked like, it was now a silver and blue, sleek instrument with golden pipes running along the sides and ending on either side of the clown as he stood behind it, fingers ready over the keys as he smiled and looked ready for battle. As for Aldamon, he merely focused on sis ordinary, wooden acoustic guitar, and in a large flash of fire, transformed it into an electric one that was designed to resemble a fierce dragon that was ready to go out and wreck an entire army of knights. After conjuring up an amp with it’s own solar powered generator and plugging the guitar in, the King of Witchelny was ready to go.

Piedmon and his brother both started at the same time once Voltamon signaled them to begin the duel, Aldamon being the faster while Piedmon’s intro was more like a countdown and soon the clown really got into playing to the point that he nearly drowned his brother’s guitar out while their giant avatars did battle between them. Aldamon’s dragon flew around, chasing after Piedmon’s flying kirin who then turned and started stabbing its fiery opponent with its horn before kicking it with its hind legs. The dragon then tried to snake its way around its oppoonent, but the kirin was quick and darted out of the way just in time before using its wings to send a gust of wind at the dragon as it chased it through the air, and knocked the burning serpent to the ground. The dragon then got back up and started wrestling with the elemental kirin whose watery wings then caused the dragon’s burning hands to create a bit of steam.

When Piedmon started to really over take the battle with a piano solo, he called out to Aldamon.

“Is your heart even in this brother!?” Piedmon shouted, “Here I am, not even holding back and it’s just _too easy!_ Where is your _real fire_ brother? Did it go out in your isolation while you worried your subjects? Do you not care for them, Aldamon?”

“IT’S RIGHT HERE PIEDMON!” Aldamon shouted, his wings bursting into flame as he really got into playing and even going into his solo as his heart finally forced its way into his music, and it showed as his dragon then started burning brighter, and even becoming as fierce as wildfire. “Piedmon, I will defeat you on my own, and I won’t accept the help of others like I did on Witchelny! I will be self reliant, and harden my heart just like you were able to, Brother!”

As the King of Witchelny shredded at the strings, his dragon started pushing his opponent back, and even managed to throw it to the side. Piedmon, now smiling started playing faster and letting his avatar get up as it then charged and got into a stalemate with the dragon.

“Ladies and gentlemon is this a show or what!” Voltamon cried out, “After only one song, this duel has shown both our King and his brother to be on equal ground, and all I can say that Round One has come to an end with a tie! Now, let’s see what the next song will do for the second!”

The crowd cheered, and even Thor enjoyed the fight as the two brothers started a new duet. With Piedmon ruling the battle as his kirin literally danced around the dragon, while Aldamon’s guitar playing caused his dragon to only just be able to keep up, but this song also ended in a draw.

As Round Three was waiting to begin, Piedmon started thinking of any tune he could use to get the advantage, as it seemed that Aldamon knew just about every one that he did, and his mind wandered to Flamemon’s death. Suddenly, the clown found his fingers moving on their own, playing a tune that seemed familiar, and yet he couldn’t figure out where he had heard it. Aldamon however, almost stumbled through his own playing, as he started to remember the song from before his and Piedmon’s adoption so long ago. The king played quietly, while his avatar still battled fiercely as he also remembered the story the ancient song told: of how how a king had made himself an immortal, beautiful beast and isolated himself because of his selfish pride, and how one day someone managed to get into his home, and become something the King loved more than anything. Sadly, as the King was immortal but his friend or lover was not, the King’s companion grew old and died. But the king’s heart had melted due to that person’s efforts, and so he swore to be more open towards his subjects, and finally leaves his castle in order to travel and hopefully reunite with his lost friend in their next life.

A lot like how Aldamon had been lately.

“I would gaze at the pieces stacked so carefully with love,” Aldamon found himself singing along as he also felt the tears roll down his cheeks, “From behind closed shutters that were windows to your heart…”

As the king continued to sing, Piedmon continued to play as his own eyes welled with tears as he too started to remember the song, the “Ballad of the Beast” while the citizens of Little Witchelny, the very ones that had followed their beloved king from their old world when it was destroyed seemed to all act like they were waking up from a long dream or nightmare, none was sure which. Even Piedmon’s companions noticed this, as did those native to the digital world such as Anubismon and Voltamon, and also noticed that everyone else seemed a bit confused.

Then, the music stopped as Piedmon found himself clutching his own head in pain as he remembered more and more about the day he was adopted, and also some moments before that day. He screamed as he felt his chest burn while barely registering the fact that Voltamon called a time out to the duel, all while Aldamon called out to Piedmon while the two avatars were frozen in place, as they would not fade until one lost the battle.

All Piedmon could even focus on now, were pain and the flood of memories that came with it.

~~000~~

_Strabimon had lost consciousness in the alley his shack was located the mage who attacked him almost killing him until something or someone had saved the young street rat. However as the little wolf groaned awake sometime later, he immediately realized that he was not lying on the cold stone pavement in a puddle of his own blood. Instead, he was lying on his back on something soft and rather warm. He could two hear voices around him, one sounding disgusted while the other sounded rather gentle and caring._

_“Are you sure it was wise to save this… clanless runt?” said the rough and tempremental voice. “My king, there is no reason to have saved a mere thief, and I feel his attacker was doing a service for all of Aleister by trying to end his life._

_“Solacias,” said the kinder voice, while regal, had soon taken on a stern tone, “This one is but a child, and I sense great power within him, a talent I’ve not sensed in a long, long time. I believe with the proper training, he can become a great hero of Witchelny.”_

_“Or another Thief of Origin like Dynesti.” Solacias had said as he failed to notice Strabimon had awoken, the blood red scaled, humanoid dragon wearing a cape held in place by two clasps on his chestplate depicting the spiraled flame symbol associated with Clan Eneruge. As the source of the kinder voice looked at the draconic Dorbickmon Strabimon said nothing as he recognized the white armored king, Guiltaka, also known as Medieval Dukemon sitting by the bed the young thief was lying in._

_“Solacias…” Guiltaka then said in warning, only for the dragon to let out a “hmph.”_

_“Oh please, we both know that superstition about not saying a banished mage’s name only works if he’s still in Witchelny. But as he’s off in another time and place altogether, he won’t get his power back from here.” Solacias had said, while the King of Witchelny simply sighed. Strabimon however, only knew that the dragon gave him a bad feeling as his mind tried to figure things out still._

_“Where… am I?” Strabimon then said, not really understanding the conversation he had woken up to. The young wolf’s voice however, had managed to alert the two Witchelnans and caused them to look at the bedridden child as he tried to move, only to cringe in pain._

_“Don’t move so quickly, young one.” Guiltaka said, his golden eyes showing concern as he moved to help ease Strabimon’s body so he could sit up, before giving a silent signal to the to tell the dragon to leave, “It’s not often one your age is able to survive such a brutal attack. Or summon rain to put out a fire.”_

_“I’m only fifteen, it’s not like I’m just a kid.” Strabimon said with a growl, “Besides, I’m tougher than I look.”_

_The king said nothing at first, instead using magic to remove his armor, and revealing himself to be a brown-haired man with patches of red, black green and snow white scales on his body, and his clothes consisting of a simple white shirt under a red tunic with leather breeches and brown boots. Strabimon’s red eyes widened as he saw the king basically unmasked, and wondered if he was honored to see such a rare thing at all, or about to be cursed by the goddess Quartette for continuing to stare._

_“I know, I’m not what you probably expected, but I felt this would help you feel a bit more comfortable.” he then said gently, “I was fifteen once too after all, and if I was in your position at that age I probably wouldn’t want to speak with someone who hid their appearance all the time either.”_

_“Whatever.” Strabimon said as he looked away, “I just want to know where I am, and how I got here, ok?”_

_“You’re in the palace, young Strabimon.” the king then said with a chuckle, “I saw the raincloud you summoned, and went to investigate before finding your attacker and what he had done to you and your home. After I managed to stop him by taking his own, I was worried you were dead before you somehow managed to grab my cape before passing out, and after healing what I could, I brought you here.”_

_“Thanks, I guess…” Strabimon then said out of a bit of embarrassment, “But you shouldn’t have bothered your majesty, as that Dorbickmon said, I’m a clanless streetrat so it’s not like you did me a favor by bringing me here. As soon as I’m healed, I’ll just have to go back and try to survive again. That’s how it tends to go for me anyway.”_

_“Well, perhaps that should change.” the king said with a smile, and earning a confused look from Strabimon. “Tell me, do you have a name?”_

_“Never got an actual one, I’m just called brat, runt, clanless, or whatever other insults the trained mages can think up, or just ‘Strabimon’ to what few friends I had.” Strabimon said bitterly._

_“Well, would you like an actual name then?” the king then asked._

_“What?”_

_“After seeing your rain cloud, I asked around while you rested and learned that despite being clanless, you have a natural talent with magic, and a bit of martial skill as well… despite well, what happened.” the king then said, “It’s very rare for a nameless to have such raw skill, and I wondered if you’d like me to give you a name, and perhaps more.”_

_“Have you lost your mind?” Strabimon asked, “You, the king of all people in Aleister, no make that in all of freaking Witchelny, want to give a clanless punk like me a name. What’s next, giving me a teddy bear and making me a prince too?”_

_“Well, adoption did cross my mind…” the king said with a sly smile as he then conjured up a blue, stuffed bear with red eyes and a stitched up mouth, “But I’ll admit I didn’t expect a request for a toy.”_

_As the king then set the doll next to Strabimon, the wolf boy simply stared at the king in shock and confusion before reluctantly taking the bear and hugging it close._

_“So,” the wolf digimon then said after a few moments of silence, “what did you want to call me?”_

_“Senan Arvind.” was all the king said, and Strabimon simply hummed a bit as he thought about it._

_“What does it mean?” he then asked, while the king gave a smile and answered him._

_“It might mean something else in another world,” the king said gently, “But here in Witchelny, it means something I consider rather fitting for you: Hero with Flaming Eyes.”_

_“You know… I guess I could get used to being called that..” the newly named Senan then said before smiling for the first time that he could actually remember._

~~000~~

_It had been only a week since King Guiltaka had decided to name young Senan, and had been getting preparations for the adoption ceremony ready once he had fully recovered. However, during that time, Solacias had been discovered casting a terrible spell on his own son, a Flamemon who refused ro even speak at the time of his rescue. The day Solacias had been arrested however, was another day that changed Senan’s life, as he had just managed to get himself out of his bed and into the hallway the moment he heard his future father’s rushed and clanging footsteps._

_He watched as he saw Solacias’ son in the king’s arms, the young flamemon looking afraid as he clung to the king for dear life, the battered and bruised heir to Eneruge having a dark aura around him that made Senan uneasy. Acting on instinct, he followed after them, partly to meet Eneruge’s heir properly, and also to see what he could do to help._

_“ Your maj- Father, what happened?” Senan asked as he moved next to the king down the hall, while the helmed king merely glanced at his future son before heading into another room and setting the flamemon down._

_“Solacias, as I discovered to my horror, had been experimenting on his own son when I decided to make a surprise visit to Eneruge.” the king then said, “Solacias has been arrested and is waiting in the dungeon for his trial, but this little one here is unfit to take over his clan in his current, cursed state.”_

_“I never even knew Solacias had an heir.” Senan had said as he followed his savior into the room. “I had heard that Solacias’ wife died while creating an egg, only for it to be… well, a dud.”_

_“So had I.” Guiltaka said grimly as he weaved his magic to try and undo what Solacias had done, while Senan moved in to help. “However, it seemed that blasted Dorbickmon had not only lied to everyone about it, but hid his son’s very existence from the current clan leader so he could build the perfect tool to try and take over my throne.”_

_“Does Clan Eneruge have another heir?” Senan then asked._

_“Well, yes, but…” Guiltaka then said after a shining light surrounded the flamemon, “why do you want to know?”_

_“Well, can’t you adopt him along with me? If word gets out about Solacias’ son, the people may not like a known criminal’s kid running about, especially if he’s targeted by his father’s enemies looking for payback.” Senan said, while both he and the king finished dispelling Solacias’ magic._

_“I see your point…” Guiltaka said as he stood up, “I’ll see what I can do, but if Quartette gives me a sign against this, I’ll do my best to make sure he’s sent someplace safe.”_

_“Thanks.” Senan said, before being ordered to stay with his potential brother as the king went to try and consult the goddess of all Witchelny. Once they were alone, he then heard their guest speak._

_“Um… th-thank you.” the flamemon had said, and as Senan looked at the other digimon, he noticed that they were about the same age. Of course, as the red headed digimon curled up o the bed, and looking a bit fearful as his green eyes looked at the wolfish prince to be, Senan simply sighed and crossed his arms._

_“Don’t be so damn timid.” he then said, “I was rescued from dying on the street a week ago, and I wanted to make sure you had a chance for something better, okay?”_

_“Oh, s-sorry…” the flamemon then said, “So.. wh-what’s your name?”_

_“Senan Arvind, just got it a week ago.” the strabimon then said proudly, “What about yours though?”_

_Flamemon however, only muttered his name, and though the wolf boy’s ears picked it up perfectly, he smirked as he conjured up a sandwich and offered some to his future brother._

_“Wow, that’s a pretty girly name.” Senan then said, only for Flamemon to flinch and grumble, “But, you will have to tell the king if he’s allowed to adopt you, you know. I’d tell him myself, but eh, it’d probably be better if you do it.”_

_“Thanks…” flamemon then said before eating his sandwich, and the rest of the day was spent with the two boy digimon getting to know each other better._

~~000~~

After one last memory played in his mind, the root of the terrible suffering he had endured after Medieval Dukemon had publicly adopted them, the pain he felt stopped. Of course, as his true name had been sealed away once again as part of the curse upon Piedmon, he didn’t care as he finally stood up straight and called out to his brother.

“Aldamon!” he shouted, “Do you remember that day? The day I saved Father’s life in front of all of Witchelny?”

Aldamon was confused for a moment, before he too had a fog lifted from his memory and remembered that event, and nodded. “I do Piedmon! The day the Ballad of the Beast was forgotten by everyone when a vile magician tried to murder father, only for you to take up a sword and kill the fiend. While you were a hero, that scaly bastard’s last words ended up with both of us cursed more than anyone!”

“Yet, it seems, it’s been lifted at last, Aldamon!” Piedmon said with a grin as he started to play the song again and continuing their duel as Voltamon simply threw his hands up in the air after the ten minute timeout ended without his say so, “Our memories, along with that of the citizens of our old home had been sealed about that day, and of the Ballad of the Beast, you who stood by ended up being loved while I who acted ended being despised. No one would even be able to recreate it by accident, until someone sacrificed themselves for my sake, which sadly came to pass last night!”

“Then let this battle end with the Rebirth of the Ballad of the Beast, Piedmon!” Aldamon said as he played along as best as he could on his guitar, “And let it be forever known that it was that nameless Flamemon who let it be reborn from his ashes like the Phoenix!”

As Piedmon nodded and continued to play the whole audience watched as the magical clown, and now remembered hero of all Witchelny wept tears of joy as he poured not only his heart, but his very soul into the music and a few- including Piedmon himself, could have sworn they saw the ghostly image of Flamemon that day, guiding the clown in the mystically powerful melody as his avatar managed to overpower Aldamon’s, and earning the clown his victory in their duel once the King managed to fumble too much in his own performance due to a lack of sheet music.

“Well, certainly didn’t expect this.” Nomad said as the duel ended and the music stopped with both avatars fading. “To think, a whole town went mad because one guy cursed his killer, and erased a song in the process. Guess he had no taste in music, since hell, this is a pretty nice tune.”

“Seriously.” Anubismon said flatly, “I heard this song while poking around the internet, and yet these numbskulls didn’t even think to check there.”

“While this realm is filled with surprises…” Thor said in annoyance, “I shall admit that the reason for our companion’s misery, was quite petty.”

“Oi, at least Piedmon gets to live.” Percy said, being the most relieved along with Bruce for his friend’s victory. “I was pretty worried when he collapsed! I would have gone up there myself it it weren’t for the damn for Voltamon keeping me from doing so.”

Meanwhile, back with the duelists, Piedmon had rejoined his brother right in front of the audience with Voltamon between them, the judge of their duel congratulating the clown as everyone but his companions and Anubismon began to kneel before their new King. Piedmon however, was silent at first, thinking about the options before him: Stay and rule as king over the people who thanks to a curse, treated him as a villain when it wasn’t even warranted, or stay with his friends and continue on his quest to help Percy acquire the equipment of the Knight of Love, and eventually rescue his beloved Venusmon.

The choice in the end, was very obvious as Piedmon spoke.

“Everyone, as much as you would probably enjoy having me rule over you now that forgotten curse has been lifted, I would like to let all of you know that I have forgiven you all for the mistreatment and also, I will not take my prize as the new King of Witchelny and instead will just decide Karatenmon’s fate.” he said, before looking at his confused brother, “In fact, if our positions had been reversed I believe we would both be in the other’s shoes and nothing would have really changed, nor would I have met or even slowly fallen in love with my dear Venusmon, who I believe is a _much better_ reward for all I’ve been through than becoming King. So, I will abdicate and let my brother keep his title. Besides, perhaps now that people will be able to tell him when he does wrong, he can actually become a decent one… at best. So, I thank all of you for your mistreatment, as it has actually allowed me in my later exile to learn how to truly appreciate life.”

The kneeling citizens then looked confused as Piedmon gave a bow once he closed his speech, before simply shrugging, while their King, Aldamon looked worried.

“Brother, you shouldn’t just give it back to me.” Aldamon said, “I mean, I’ve screwed up, and well… I really don’t deserve to be king.”

“Aldamon,” Piedmon said with a smile, “You do realize you’ve been acting much like the king in the Ballad of the Beast, don’t you? In fact, do you remember what that King said when he swore to devote himself to those he loved?”

“Uh… I… um… actually forgot?” Aldamon said blushing, causing Piedmon to laugh and quote the line.

_“Open the door and step right in, won’t you stay a while and let yourself be loved…”_

~~000~~

Later on, everyone was standing outside of Anubismon’s home, where the Judge of the Dead was standing next to the restrained Karatenmon, as Piedmon had given the mayor of Little Witchelny permission to take care of Karatenmon’s execution.

“Okay everyone, let’s just make this quick. No speeches, no ceremony, just me getting rid of a pain in the ass shopkeeper who wouldn’t stop wrongly accusing everyone.” Anubismon said, before stepping back, facing the bound crow and clearing his throat. “Ammit!”

Suddenly, the ground beneath karatenmon started to shimmer as a dark hole opened up beneath him, to allow the head of a demonic crocodile with the mane of a lion to snap up the digimon before retreating back into the hole and sealing itself away. It was quick, painless for everyone else, and for Anubismon at least, really, really worth it.

“Okay, now, let’s go party!” the Jackal then said, before heading into the castle which now had a front door installed and was followed by everyone else, even if young Bruce was a bit uncomfortable about going back in.

Thankfully however, the inside of Aldamon’s castle was cleaned up quite a bit, making it easier for the young boy to breathe, as Piedmon’s friends also managed to meet Aldamon’s other guests. Of course, Roland had managed to master walking and also running with his goat legs, as he demonstrated when Witchmon tried flirting with him to the point that she chased after him when he tried to get away. Percy also managed to show off his magic to a couple of young mages of Witchelny, who were a bit jealous of the boy’s talent and tried to show off their best spells as well, only for them to mess up and have it explode in their faces.

As for Thor, he and Sanzomon had a pleasant conversation, while Kuzuhamon lurked in the background with Nomad, the priestess finding the ending to this tale a happy one, while the cloaked stranger was a bit distracted by the priestess’s chest.

As for Bruce and FanBeemon, they had struck up a quick friendship with Sistermon Blanc, who found the polite and kind hearted boy to be quite charming, especially when her sister Noir started making a scene once she found the booze. Of course, Blanc and Bruce’s chats about helping the resistance as a medic for his friends really interested the young, nun like digimon, who admitted she really didn’t like violence.

As for Anubismon, he merely stayed near the refreshment table, never really been too much of a party goer anyway, while he watched Voltamon provide music and entertainment. As he sipped his punch, he then wondered what would happen next, and as he heard talk of joining the resistance, considered perhaps helping them out. Then again, he was under orders to by the one in charge of the digital world, so he quickly remembered he didn’t have a choice. The fact that in doing so he’d be able to get the people of Witchelny off his lawn and long last once the digital world was saved however, made the lack of choice in the matter a lot easier to accept for the winged jackal man.

Elsewhere however, the two royal brothers of Witchelny were having a chat.

“So, what will you do now, Aldamon?” Piedmon asked, sipping some brandy he brought for himself.

“I…. really don’t know brother,” Aldamon then said, before sipping a bit of iced tea as alcohol had never really been something he liked, since his abilities as a fire mage caused him to burn it up before he could even take a sip. “I mean, I could probably end up leading our people to destruction… again.”

“Well…” Piedmon said before using a bit of sleight of hand to pull out a gate disk. “The Resistance could use the help of our people’s magic. Not only could it help make amends over that war you caused, but you may learn a few things about being a leader as well. That, and I may be there to offer my aid even after Lillithmon is defeated, allowing us I assume, to reconnect further if you so wish.”

Aldamon took the device and frowned. “How can this thing transport a whole town? It’s… rather tiny.”

“I may have used a bit of Sorcery to enhance that one.” Piedmon said with a sly smile, “But I insist that you use it after I’ve left town, I still have a mission to do with my companions, but I promise once I’ve completed it, I will see you again in ElDradimon.”

“Thank you, Piedmon.” Aldamon said, smiling at his brother and actually liking the idea of helping save the new world he called home, especially after causing so much trouble for it in the past.

~~000~~

Later on the party ended, and the guests left, each bidding Aldamon good bye as they made their way to their homes, until only his usual guests for the past few months remained.

“Listen… I’m thinking of allowing everyone here in Little Witchelny to join the Resistance.” Aldamon then said, “Can I trust you to pack your things quickly, and go spread the word immediately? I have something I need to do first.”

None of the female digimon said a word and nodded in understanding, excited to actually be doing something soon to help fight. Once they were gone however, Aldamon then went to his chambers and packed his own things with some magical aid and once that was done, he went to the main hall and focused his magic.

In the warmth hidden deep within the shadows of his heart, lonely walls started to crumble in the castle he had built. Aldamon knew full well that it wouldn’t be easy, but if he and his people were going to stay in the digital world, then they wouldn’t just sit around and do nothing.

Not like he had done for twenty five years.

“And the days I have given up in my search of happiness,” he said to himself, once again quoting the Ballad of the Beast, “are the one thing that tells me not to give up easily!”

~~000~~

Outside the castle, the citizens of Little Witchelny were gathered for one last time, packed and ready to go and join the fight for the Digital World, and noticed that a phantom melody started to play in the air, and no one could figure out where it came from, not even Voltamon this time.

However, while his own companions had went on ahead with Nomad to GranLocomon, when Piedmon heard the villagers talk about joining the resistance, he had decided to gather with them, to see if his brother was truly going to do it. To his, and everyone else’s surprise, he watched as the castle rumbled and burst into flames as it fell apart, with Aldamon standing in the center of the inferno unharmed and looking much better than he had ever been in years. The yellowed horns on his mask were now shining white, the rust on his armor was now gone as the metal shone to its true luster and his Rudri Tarpana were now open as his body roared with the fire of his heart, while the flames streamed from the guns hidden beneath the golden spikes, that were now fully exposed. In fact, even Aldamon’s wings were now burning with purpose as the King’s spirit returned to him at long last.

Aldamon, now free from his self imprisonment smiled at his brother, with Piedmon speaking first once the blaze ended.

“It’s good to see you as your old self again, Aldamon.” the clown said, giving a bow to his brother as the crowd parted to allow both of them to speak when their King headed towards him. “Long live the king of Witchelny.”

“I would like to speak with you Piedmon, before we part ways.” Aldamon said, bidding his brother rise, “I want to know, when this is over what you will do once Plutomon is defeated, and our new home is peaceful again?”

“I will gaze at the passing world, and scatter it with love alongside my beloved Venusmon, of course. In any case… I wish you farewell, and good luck my beloved brother.” Piedmon said, before turning around to walk away. Aldamon was silent, unsure what to even say as his brother moved farther and farther out of sight, the King starting to feel the tears that had welled up begin to fall.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to let him walk off with just that.” Anubismon said, causing Aldamon to flinch and look at the jackal headed digimon in confusion before he groaned and added, “Go after him and give him a proper send off, dammit!”

“Right!” Aldamon said, before spreading his wings and flying after his brother, and made it just in time to see Piedmon get on GranLocomon.

“BROTHER!” Aldamon shouted, getting the clown’s attention as he turned his head towards the king, “Brother, as the tears fall endlessly, I watch you walk away! I’d gladly wait a thousand years if I knew it would bring us together again and we’d live happily ever after!”

Piedmon froze at the words for a moment, before waving his brother good bye in silence before going inside of the train and starting to play the Ballad of the Beast, the melody coming out of the train’s pipes as it pulled away from the village, with Aldamon now feeling content with the farewell turned back and returned to the village, where he found everyone ready to go, and Anubismon speaking to Voltamon.

“Are you _sure_ you’re not going to help us fight?” Anubismon said, with the musician simply smiling and giving a shrug.

“Hey, I don’t even have anything offensive, attack wise. I’m better off going around the liberated rings to help motivate those left behind, anyway.” Voltamon then said, before looking at his band mates, “But… if any of them want to help, eh, they don’t need my permission to go.”

At the words, Puppetmon then cheered as he revealed he had everything already packed as he then joined the gathered citizens of Little Witchelny, while Voltamon and the rest of his band left the village and eventually the ring on Blimpmon. Anubismon then smiled, realizing that he wouldn’t have to deal with the classy demon causing him a headache while in the resistance, and soon nodded towards Aldamon when everyone had seen he’d returned from giving his brother a proper farewell.

Everyone still heard the music for the Ballad of the Beast as it played around them- even though Piedmon was long gone by now, and once Aldamon pulled out the Gate Disk and activated it, every single citizen disappeared in a big flash of light.

The music still played on a little longer when the light cleared, and all that was left once the song did end was only an empty village and a ruined castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the Beast Mini-arc comes to an end. Piedmon survives of course, Aldamon remains king of Witchelny after all, and there's a happy ending of course.
> 
> In the original version of this chapter, the two memories from Piedmon's old life were not written and it was just a vague paragraph alluding to what happened. When editing this chapter, I decided to go on and have them in there for another peek at how Piedmon was as a much younger digimon, show how Flamemon was as a kid, and finally, give a peek at how Witchelny was once like. 
> 
> And also well, show Medieval Dukemon/King Guiltaka out of armor and also in armor in action. As for Solacias? Well... this won't be the last time we'll hear about his dickery unfortunately, nor is it the last we'll probably hear about "Dynesti" either. As for Aldamon's true name? We'll find out what it is much, much later.
> 
> Now, while Piedmon's true name is revealed, the clown sadly doesn't get to keep his knowledge of it after the flashbacks due to the Exiled Mage seal on him. But don't worry, he'll get to remember it normally again one day. Just not this arc. Or the next one.
> 
> For those sad that there'll be no more Voltamon though, well, he was meant to be a one-off character really, and just be limited to this mini-arc. And since he can't die off, I just sent him off screen doing stuff to keep spirits up elsewhere. As for Puppetmon though? Well, he'll be a bit more important in the next arc, and also he's just becoming a new member of the Resistance due to Piedmon. Thankfully, he won't be a dick who pulls guns on people and kidnaps children to play with them. This fic's puppetmon is much, much nicer and one hell of a violinist too.
> 
> Next time: We look back at the Resistance Base in a sort of epilogue to the Beast Mini-arc, but in the process... well, let's just say change someone gets stuck.


	18. A Peek Back at the Base, and Mistymon's Arrival!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An epilogue to the Beast Mini-arc, where we see what happens when Aldamon and Little Witchelny arrive at the Resistance Base.

It was a slow day within the Resistance Base, nothing to report in regards to Lillithmon, no trouble within the base and all was well. In fact, Beezlemon had decided to have lunch in the base’s throne room, and so he looked down hungrily at the small table that sat in front of him holding a tray with an extra messy Sloppy Joe on it, a chocolate milkshake and a large order of fries covered in- of all things to even have as a favorite condiment, chocolate sauce.

“Oh wow, Tandy’s out done herself today!” Beezlemon said with a grin as he smelled how good his lunch was, and was about to pick up the sandwich and dig in when Murphy’s law decided to rear it’s ugly head. Mainly because he was then exposed to a bright flash of light, causing him to jump and unfortunately bump the table in front of him in the right way so that his face ended up covered in ground meat and bread. He did manage to save the milkshake though, and once his sight cleared, he not only saw his fries on the floor, but also the fact that there were a lot of digimon in the room looking at him.

“Can’t a guy have lunch in peace?” he grumbled as he wiped off his face, and once that was done, he immediately noticed the group’s leader standing in front of him: the red armored, handsome and still beastly digimon with long blond hair and fiery wings.

“What do you want?” Beezlemon then asked, looking pretty annoyed at the cause of the interruption and the mess it caused.

“Well,” said the leader of the new arrivals, “My brother Piedmon has convinced me to lend the resistance the aid of what’s left of Witchelny against Plutomon. I, King Aldamon am also at your service, I assume you’re the one running the Resistance?”

Beezlemon blinked all three of his eyes, at first not sure what Aldamon had just said, until things registered. Immediately standing up and holding out his free hand while taking a sip of his milkshake, the former demon lord then spoke.

“Yeah, I am.” he said, “Beezlemon, former Demon Lord of Gluttony, and the one who ended the terror of the Seven Great Demon Lords. Though… how did you get enough Gate Disks to transport all these digimon here?”

“Actually, I just used the one Piedmon gave me that he supercharged with Sorcery.” Aldamon said before shaking Beezlemon’s hand. Of course, before the black winged digimon could even respond, he then noticed Anubismon and gulped, before quickly moving away from Aldamon.

“I just remembered, I have a meeting with one of my advisors in the Resistance, so I need to get going and I’ll bring up your wish to join up with them and get their thoughts on it, so please excuse me and wait here until I return!” Beezlemon said very quickly before running out of the room while still holding on to his milkshake.

“Okay?” Aldamon said as he watched the black winged digimon literally fly out of the room, before turning to face Anubismon, “I wonder what he seemed so frightened about?”

“Maybe he realized how much trouble he’s in, since the guy who started a war forty five years ago has offered to help.” Anubismon said with a smirk, while Aldamon simply rolled his eyes at what he definitely knew was an insult to him. Of course, the King of Witchelny did smile a bit as someone had finally been able to tell him he had done something wrong for once.

~~000~~

Beezlemon meanwhile- after gulping down his milkshake mid-flight and throwing the thankfully shatterproof glass to the side and letting it bounce off the wall and roll across the floor, soon found Captain America heading towards him. Okay, so the digimon ended up crashing into the super soldier and knocked them both to the ground, but it still counted as finding the hero anyway.

“Witchelny! Aldamon! Anubismon! Here! What do!?” Beezlemon said quickly, obviously freaking out while Cap simply raised an eyebrow as he struggled to get out from under the former demon lord, and also spitting out a couple of tiny black feathers once he was half way there.

“Calm down Beezlemon, and say that again. Slowly.” Steve Rogers then said, before using his fingers to try and make sure his hair wasn’t messed up by the encounter.

“Right.” Beezlemon said after taking a deep breath as he got up, and then helped Steve to his feet. “Okay, so, King Aldamon of what’s left of Witchelny is in the throne room with his people, offering their aid to the Resistance. However, there was a war with his old home forty five years ago, and there are some veterans from that war helping out the Resistance already. I’m worried that those war heroes would not like working with their former enemies, and that the resistance will be harder to maintain even with the extra help Piedmon sent according to Aldamon, who apparently claims that Piedmon is his brother.”

Steve Rogers said nothing at first, crossing his arms as his mind processed the information, and also nodded in understanding towards Beezlemon’s worry about what could happen if the ex-demon lord decided to let Witchelny join after all. Of course, as he had also managed to read up and hear about the war mentioned, he also didn’t need to ask about it.

“Well, back on Earth, we’ve had several wars with each other and sometimes when two former enemies have a new one in common, they would team up to fight against it. It will be difficult working together at first, but if this situation is anything like that, I’m sure that both the Digimon Veterans of that war, and those from Witchelny will be able to get along in time while facing Plutomon’s forces.” Cap then said as he tried to reassure the resistance leader, of course, something else he mentioned caused the blond and blue eyed hero to look concerned. “So, what about this ‘Anubismon?’ Was he in the war fighting for the Digimon, or for Witchelny?”

“Neutral Party.” Beezlemon said, “Though, to be honest, Anubismon’s job is deciding which digimon get to be reborn, and which ones don’t. In fact, he’s one of the oldest digimon in the history of the Digital World, and also the one I’ve really hoped not to see.”

“Why’s that?” Cap asked, getting a good idea what it might be if the digimon in question’s name was related to what he thought it was.

“Rumor states that the guy has a pretty bad temper some times, and before the Rings were created, Anubismon was said to send evil Digi cores to suffer in the Dark Area for a while until the core’s memories are reset and ready to be reborn as completely new digimon. However, since the Dark Area no longer exists, the digi cores of those like Mercurymon are instead devoured by Ammit, Anubismon’s pet, I think. Of course, if a digimon manages to piss them off before they’re deletion… he may just sick Ammit on them anyway. Hell, it’s also said that he can look into a digimon’s core and see their sins, their goodness and even their deepest secrets.” Beezlemon said, before shuddering as he thought about the jackal headed digimon.

“And that’s why you’re scared of him?” Steve then asked, “His ability to see into your ‘Core?’ I mean, that’s probably a frightening ability, but I don’t see how he can make you worried since he apparently wants to help the Resistance as well.”

“What? I’m not scared of him because of that!” Beezlemon said, “I’m scared because I still remember the things Barbamon said to insult him, and I’m afraid if Anubismon saw them in my core, I’d get killed for pissing him off!”

“What exactly did Barbamon say about him?” the super soldier then asked.

“I even say what they were and I could cause Anubismon to appear right next to us… he supposedly has very good hearing.” Beezlemon said, his grim expression allowing Cap to nod and not press the subject any further.

“Anyway Beezlemon, back to the Witchelny Problem.” Steve then said to get back on track, “I say let them help, and if other resistance members have a problem, they can take it up with you, their leader.”

“Thanks.” Beezlemon then said and started walking back to the Throne Room, while Cap decided to head to the library to try and do a bit more research on Anubismon. Thankfully the super soldier had been able to figure out how to read Digicode after being in the Digital World for over a month, and wouldn’t have too much of a problem since he made a cipher key in his journal to help as well.

~~000~~

On Beezlemon’s way back, he ended up encountering Tandy and Candlemon, the two having had a chance to poke around the ruins’ inner city for a bit of sun. Of course, when the black Brazilian girl and the candle saw the former demon lord alone, they couldn’t help but greet him.

“Hey Beezlemon!” Candlemon then said, “ Did you enjoy lunch?”

Beezlemon then flinched, and looked a bit uneasy as he remembered that his meal had ended up on his face rather than in his stomach, except for the milkshake. “I er… ended up not eating when some new arrivals for the Resistance appeared. The milkshake was good though.”

It was then that Beezlemon remembered that Candlemon’s champion level, Wizardmon, was considered a “Wizard” class digimon- obviously enough, like a lot of those from Witchelny. In fact, the candle could actually help ease tension between the Witchelny War veterans and the new arrivals, and so he got an idea.

“So, do you two want to meet them?” he asked with a smile, and as Tandy and Candlemon didn’t think anything too odd about it, shrugged and nodded in silence. With that done, Beezlemon then took them with him to the Throne room, where he opened the door and was greeted by the digimon of Witchelny, and their King who had politely waited for the Resistance Lord’s return as asked.

Unfortunately however, Candlemon seemed to freeze in place as he clearly recognized Aldamon, and screamed before falling over and going into shock as he started muttering things about the war and getting stabbed with a spear. While Tandy tried to snap her partner out of his shock, Aldamon just stared in confusion as Anubismon simply groaned and covered his face with his large hand.

“Beezlemon, couldn’t you have picked another digimon to meet with Aldamon? I can recognize Candlemon’s digicore as that of Dynasmon’s. You know, the one who ended the war with his death?” Anubismon then said, causing Beezlemon to feel kind of stupid for forgetting about that. Then again, as the demon lord didn’t exactly have the best education growing up, he had to spend his spare time in the Royal Guard trying to make up for it. Of course, a crash course in various subjects combined with a coup and the stress of leading a resistance movement after five years couldn’t exactly help in keeping things memorized sometimes.

“This was the Royal Knight that sacrificed himself and shared a name with Father’s spear, Dynas?” Aldamon then asked, poking the candle’s waxy body with his tail as he looked at the digimon. Tandy however, then swatted it away, causing the king to flinch.

“Hey, don’t go poking my partner with your tail!” Tandy snapped, “Don’t you know how rude that is?”

“No, I didn’t really!” Aldamon then said with a smile as he held his tail close to him, “Thanks for pointing out my mistake though.”

“What.” Tandy said flatly, just as Candlemon started to snap out of his apparent bout of PTSD. Thankfully, the masked priestess Kuzuhamon decided to walk up and speak.

“King Aldamon has had… issues about digimon never exactly telling him when he did wrong or made a mistake.” she then said, “Thankfully, a recent encounter with Piedmon has fixed that.”

“I see… I think.” Tandy said, while politely refraining from commenting that it sounded like Aldamon was just a very sheltered, and possibly spoiled individual. Beezlemon however, was starting to get annoyed with the silliness and as he still had work to do figuring out where to even put everyone else who had arrived, he needed a chance to get started. Of course, with Aldamon acting a bit like a little kid at the moment, he really couldn’t get any work done just yet.

“Tandy, you and Candlemon take Aldamon and show him around the base.” Beezlemon then said, “Preferably as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir!” Tandy and Candlemon then said with a salute, before quickly escorting Aldamon out of the throne room. Once they were gone, Beezlemon then looked at the remaining digimon that were waiting for him to speak.

“Okay then.” the demon lord then said, before walking back to his throne and sitting down, “Form a line in front of me, and one at a time, I want each of you tell me what you can do so I can figure out what kind of job you can do for the Resistance.”

Looking at what seemed to be a very, very large group of digimon, Beezlemon knew that this was definitely going to take a while. Though, as he got to work interviewing the new recruits, all he could hope was that nothing would go wrong while Witchelny’s king was getting a tour of the base.

~~000~~

Later on during the tour, Tandy and Candlemon both found it odd that their guest kept smiling and waving at every digimon they came across, especially the ones that glared at him. In fact, his excitement was kind of off putting.

“So Aldamon, you do realize that because of the war, those digimon hate you, right?” Candlemon finally said, causing the King to stop and grin at the rookie.

“Yep!” he said, “This is the first time I’ve actually experienced others hating me, after getting nothing but blind love back in Witchelny, and well, it’s kind of refreshing actually! I mean, I’m finally having the chance of digimon pointing out that I messed up, and I’m not the perfect digimon my people used to think I was while my brother got all their hatred thanks to that curse.”

“Don’t get too excited…” Tandy said while deciding not to ask about the curse, “Being hated isn’t really a good thing.”

“I know.” Aldamon said, “But it still feels great to be acknowledged for my mistakes… even when I accidentally destroyed Old Witchelny twenty five years ago.”

“Wait, how did you manage to destroy your own kingdom?” Tandy asked, “Wasn’t it a part of the Digital World?”

“Nah, it was actually an alternate world connected to it,” Aldamon said, before blushing a bit and chuckling nervously “That, well, I destroyed by opening a forbidden chest in the basement that led to a chain reaction of earthquakes, floods, eruptions and hurricanes that led to the world’s destruction as I scrambled to save everyone I could and flee to the Digital World with them before Witchelny was gone for ever.”

“Wait, if you knew it was forbidden,” Tandy said as she became even more confused now, “Why did you open the chest? I mean, it kind of doesn’t make sense to do it anyway.”

“Well… because no one told me that ignoring the glowing ‘Forbidden’ sign and opening the chest anyway was wrong, then I just didn’t really know any better.” Aldamon said with a shrug, “In fact, I was never actually chastised while me and my brother were affected by the curse, so that, combined with zero discipline was to blame for my behavior.”

“I’m not sure if I should complement your sneakiness to try and get punished and treated like a normal person, or chew you out for destroying your world to do it.” Tandy said uneasily, as she was not sure how to describe what she was currently feeling for the King.

“It backfired anyway…” Aldamon then sighed, “My people still loved me, were still blindly devoted, and I had to just isolate myself inside a castle for a quarter of a century to punish myself and try to become self reliant as well. Because once again, everyone else blamed my brother even though he was exiled at the end of the war… stupid curse. So glad Piedmon managed to get it lifted.”

“Magic’s weird.” was all Tandy could say as the trio continued walking, while Candlemon simply nodded in agreement after taking a moment to think of a counterpoint, and finding nothing helpful. The three continued talking for a while as they went through the base. Aldamon talked about his life in Witchelny as a kid, how he mistook an execution of a dangerous criminal for mistreatment of Mastemon’s subjects in the digital world when the war began and even how he tried to convince everyone of his mistake after banishing his brother to save his life, only to fail miserably. Tandy in return, just told Aldamon about her life back on earth, and how boring it really was compared to the King’s, who instead found it to be pretty interesting. Mainly because he considered Tandy’s normal life before coming to the digital world, where she didn’t even have to worry about making laws, potentially starting wars or be waited on hand and foot to be something Aldamon was a little jealous of since the girl also seemed pretty well adjusted to having her sense of normalcy thrown out the window as far as the king could tell.

Eventually, they reached the training hall, where Tandy then digivolved her partner Candlemon into Wizardmon, surprising the handsome beast of a king even more.

“Wow, I’ve seen Wizardmon back home, and even among my people here in the digital world,” Aldamon then said as he did his best to kneel down and examine the short Wizardmon, “But I never figured Dynasmon had more of a connection to Witchelny than just sharing part of his name with Father’s spear, Dynas.”

“That thing was just a spear with a double-bladed axe on the other end.” Wizardmon then pointed out in annoyance, “Now can we please stop talking about the thing that I got impaled on already!”

“Oh, sorry.” Aldamon said, “So, why did you use your time piece to transform your partner, Tandy?”

“It’s called a D-Watch, and well, Wizardmon and I tend to meet his old girlfriend, Crusadermon here for training and also try and help Wizardmon digivolve further.” Tandy said.

“Crusadermon?” Aldamon said with confusion, “I don’t think I’ve heard of that one… but I remember a pretty pink knight during the war that kind of had anger issues as well. I can’t really remember the name though, but I think it was LordKnightmon or RhodoKnightmon or something?”

“Uh…” Wizardmon said with worry as Tandy opened up the doors to the training hall, and the three walked inside as they heard someone beat the crap out of a conveniently gigantic punching bag that obscured the digimon on the other side. As Aldamon looked around, he also failed to notice Wizardmon was quickly moving away from the king’s side as Tandy spoke up.

“Crusadermon!” Tandy then said, causing whoever was beating up the bag to stop, “Me and Wizardmon are here for practice? Sorry we’re a bit late, Beezlemon had us show a new arrival around the base.”

“It’s alright Tandy.” Crusadermon said, before stepping out to get a better look at the girl, her partner, and their guest. It was then that an awkward silence filled the room as both the pink Royal Knight and King of Witchelny looked at and also clearly recognized each other.

“YOU!” Crusadermon then yelled before charging at Aldamon.

“Oh crap it’s the angry one from the war!” Aldamon then said, the panic clear on his face as that was all he could say before Crusadermon had him pinned against the wall with her large gauntlet and shield known as the Pile Bunker.

“You!” she said again, out right furious at the King of Witchelny, “You were the one to cause that damn war! You were the reason my best friend and lover, Dynasmon had to die! I had to leave the Royal Knights and wait forty five _fucking_ years for him to be reborn because I _refused_ to believe he was gone forever! I was living alone in a cave for all those years because of you Aldamon, and then I was captured, turned into a slave by a maniac, and then, after all that I finally got to see _my_ beloved Dynasmon again, only to see he had a new partner! All I can do now is just support them and help them grow stronger, especially by making sure my Dynasmon returns to full strength as quickly as possible! You ruined my life, Aldamon! You’ve ruined everyone’s lives!”

Aldamon said nothing and averted his gaze. While he had been excited before about being chastised and hated, he had never expected to feel guilt quite like this. He knew Crusadermon was right, that the war he caused ruined many lives, and also knew that a simple sorry was not enough to appease the Royal Knight.

“Crusadermon…” Wizardmon then said, causing the pink warrior to look at him, the smaller digimon’s own eyes filled with a mix of sadness at his friend’s behavior and also surprise about her words, “Did you truly believe that I would return someday?”

“Yes I did.” She said before pulling her other arm back and turning to face Aldamon again, “As I also believed I would one day get the chance to destroy the one who caused that damn war! Now, I have both you back, and that chance!”

“Crusadermon wait!” Tandy said, just before Crusadermon could strike, “Aldamon didn’t know he’d end up causing a war! The whole thing started as a misunderstanding, because no one told him about what was right or wrong! No one ever told him when he made a mistake, or when he messed up or even when he was doing the wrong thing! He was in a situation where everyone was cursed by magic to blindly love him while his brother got all the hate! You can’t kill him just because he didn’t know until after the war as he found out on his own that he messed up!”

“I refuse to believe that is the case!” Crusadermon said, before she started punching Aldamon again and again while she screamed, “He _knew!_ He knew all along what he was doing! He knew and now he is not going to avoid _Justice_ anymore!”

Of course, while Crusadermon refused to listen, Tandy’s own words had caused her crest to glow and her D-watch to vibrate. Without even giving it a second thought as she tried to save the fiery digimon she actually considered a new friend, she then activated it and allowed Wizardmon to digivolve.

After being hit by the mint green beam, his body glowed brightly as he grew taller, only to stop when he was about the size of Captain America. His hat then changed into a slimmer one with a metal visor attached that went over his green eyes and obscured them in shadow. His zipped up jumpsuit had unzipped and after a flash of fire and rose petals that seemed to appear out of nowhere, turned into a red shirt and pants, before another pale green flash of light appeared over it and turned into silver and gold armor with blue gems decorating it on his shoulders, legs, arms and feet. His cape also grew and became much less raggedy, and like his hat which had lost the wide brim, turned slightly purple. A royal violet tabard then appeared next, accented with golden thread, while an eyeball connected to a silver chain appeared around his neck, the iris red and the pupil being a slit. Rings appeared on two of his brown gloved fingers both hands, each with a different gem, while a simple golden one appeared on his thumb that was engraved with digi-code appeared on his left thumb. Next he snapped his fingers with his left hand and summoned a crystal ball to it, while his busted up staff turned into a flaming falchion in his right.

Finally his blue skin turned into a more peachy color and with that, his change was complete.

“Mistymon’s ready to enchant the playing field.” he then said as he gave a bow reintroduced himself after obtaining his new form. Though, his voice was quite suave and smooth, there seemed to be a hint of something else to it that made him feel like the kind of dangerous man most girls would want to get involved with.

Of course, as the digivolution took a minute or two, by now Crusadermon had managed to knock off Aldamon’s mask, the king’s face currently obscured by his hair as she pulled back for another punch. Sheathing his blade after willing the flames to go out and revealing the lovely half gold, half silver blade in its full glory, Mistymon then rushed in and grabbed her arm mid-punch. This ended up surprising her as she looked at the newly transformed mage, while Aldamon looked up a bit as well to show his eyes.

“Crusadermon.” Mistymon said, his voice stern as he continued, “This is not _Justice._ What you’re doing now is just pointless _revenge._ Aldamon never knew who he caused to suffer in the digital world specifically during the war while he had suffered losses as well, which I can see just by looking into his eyes.”

“I’ve… broken my creed…” she then said as she stepped back and let the King go, only for Aldamon to fall to the ground while Tandy quickly moved to his side to make sure the king of Witchelny was still alive.

“ _Your_ creed?!” Mistymon then snapped, “What about _my_ creed of absolute Loyalty to my allies, no matter what!? Ever since you and Tandy met, I’ve been living a nightmare while I’m torn between the two people I felt I have to be the most loyal to over anyone else! In fact, the few times you’ve argued I’ve been forced to stay out of it because I couldn’t decide to be loyal to my Present or my Past!”

There was an awkward silence in the room now, Tandy looking between her partner and his apparent girlfriend before going back to trying to wake up Aldamon. Finally, Crusadermon spoke, her voice sounding rather strained.

“You shouldn’t _have_ to choose.” she said, “Your past loyalty to me ended when you died forty five years ago, and you… you shouldn’t do anything to be disloyal to your new partner anyway, _especially_ for my sake.”

She then left the training hall, Mistymon calling after her and was about to run after the pink knight when he stopped to look at Tandy. The girl only smiled and nodded, giving her silent permission for him to go after his old partner.

“Thank you, Tandy.” Mistymon said, before running after Crusadermon and leaving his partner and the now conscious King of Witchelny alone.

“Wow… and I thought my relationship with my brother was a soap opera.” Aldamon then said as he grunted in pain a bit. Tandy however, was silent, staring at the king’s face now that his mask was off, and finding that besides the pointed ears, bruises, cuts and the tiny fangs poking out of his mouth, he was actually kind of cute.

“Tandy? Are you alright?” he then asked, “You’re face is looking a bit red… I think. I’ve never really seen anyone with brown skin before.”

“I-I’m fine!” Tandy said quickly, before helping the King sit up, “Anyway, are you still excited to be hated?”

“Not really…” Aldamon said as he sighed as the girl then used a repair disk on the king to help heal his injuries, “I guess I still have a lot to learn about how others feel about my actions.”

“True…” Tandy said as she sat down next to him once he was healed up,“But I bet being in charge of a what’s left of your home isn’t a walk in the park either.”

“You have no idea…” Aldamon then sighed, “I mean, my entire life as a Prince was nothing but being praised for everything, even my mistakes, being treated as if I was the most awesome person ever, and well… no one really telling me ‘No’ as I always got what I wanted.”

Tandy said nothing at first, realizing that despite getting the royal treatment, Aldamon actually hated it, and actually had an understanding of why- when he did figure out what was right and wrong, he wanted to go out of his way for some form of chastisement or discipline from anyone to the point of desperation. “I may be just an ordinary girl back on earth, but I personally cannot stand the fact that because I’m mixed race, I have to get ‘special treatment’ in school while people try to be ‘politically correct,’ when really all my parents and me want is to just be treated well, like everyone else, not some fragile thing that needs to be handled with care.”

“What do you mean by ‘mixed race’?” Aldamon then asked, “Aren’t humans all well, human?”

“It’s kind of complicated.” Tandy said with a sigh, “I’m only thirteen and as best as I can explain it, people back on earth have different skin colors from dark brown or Black to lighter brown, to pale white, with the occasional bit of red, pink or yellow mixed in. People are grouped based on their skin color and where they came from, and well… not everyone treated everyone else fairly. One group decided to act better than the others, did bad things over the centuries and are now trying to make up for it by trying too hard not to offend the other groups, which according to my parents, tend to make things worse, while that one group treats everyone else in their own group fairly and everyone else gets either mistreated anyway, or for my parents who come from two different groups, end up either being given back handed compliments by people who mean well, or insulted by those in their own groups. Heck, even my dad and I have to face some hard stuff on one end of the scale, while the other end is people giving us everything we want… and since I’m just a kid, it’ll probably end up getting worse as I grow older.”

“I really didn’t understand all of that, but I think you’re saying that you either have to worry about people being too nice to you, like I had to deal with, or just being hated like Piedmon had dealt with.” Aldamon said after listening to the lecture Tandy did her best to give.

“That… is probably a better way to explain it, yeah.” she said before chuckling a bit, “I guess both our lives suck, and all we want is to be treated like everyone else.”

“Well, I like you so far Tandy, even if I don’t know that much about Earth.” Aldamon said, using his tail to pull her a little closer to him as he did his best to give her a one armed hug, “Maybe you could become Queen of Witchelny someday, and help me be a good king.”

“Er… We should wait till I’m _at least_ eighteen before going down that road… and also until we’ve gotten to know each other a lot better.” Tandy then said feeling a bit awkward, “I mean, back on earth you might be considered a grown man, and well… some places, _especially_ where I grew up, kind of frown on someone like that having romantic relations with a girl my age. Mainly because it could cause you to get thrown in jail.”

“Sorry…” Aldamon then said, blushing a bit, “I really didn’t know that, and I’m actually glad you told me. You know what? I’ll just do as you suggest and wait till you’re 18 before bringing up the Queen thing again.”

“Deal.” Tandy said, before she spotted Aldamon’s mask next to her leg and picked it up, before handing it to him. “Er, here.”

Aldamon however, simply stared at the mask as he realized it was missing the entire time, and quickly snatched it.

“Why didn’t you tell me my mask was off the whole time we were talking!?” he then said as we scrambled to slip it back on. “Oh man, if Medieval Dukemon was alive and he found out about this, he’d kill me!”

“Is the mask that important to you?” Tandy asked in confusion, “I mean, I didn’t think it was that important you had to wear it, and I’ve seen other masked digimon with them off a couple of times by accident and so far, it was really just Angewomon who freaked out a bit.”

“It’s a Witchelny tradition for nobles to wear a mask. We have to keep up the whole ‘Mysterious Magician’ thing we have going for it, you know?” Aldamon then said with a smile once he finished adjusting his mask.

“I won’t tell if you won’t.” Tandy said, smiling back before both of them started laughing.

“I wonder how Mistymon’s doing with Crusadermon?” Aldamon then asked once they were done, and Tandy simply shrugged as the two stood up to go look for the magic swordsman.

~~000~~

Elsewhere, Mistymon had just managed to catch up to Crusadermon, just as she was about to enter the inner city of the ruins on ElDradimon’s back for some fresh air.

“Crusadermon!” he shouted, getting her attention as she stopped and turned around to face him, and also cross her arms. While it was impossible to see her face through her helmet, it was pretty clear to Mistymon that his friend was glaring at him

“You should be with Tandy now,” she then said, “What do you want with me?”

“Tandy didn’t mind me going after you, Crusadermon.” he said, “Besides, I still love you, you know, even if you want me to focus on my new partner, and put our old partnership behind.”

“You’re being an idiot for chasing me down, Dynasmon.” Crusadermon said, using the magic swordsman’s original name as a royal Knight.

“And you’re being as stubborn as you always are, even after we’ve been apart for four and a half decades!” Mistymon then said, “I’m actually amazed I could get through that thick helmet of yours for well, _anything_ when you get like this!”

“I’m more amazed that after everyone thought you were permanently dead, after I somehow managed to hold onto the hope that you would come back,” Crusadermon then snapped, “that you _still_ haven’t gotten over that damn loyalty complex of yours where you can’t even tell someone you’re loyal to when they’re being stupid and need to be stopped!”

“Hey! I stopped you from killing Aldamon didn’t I!?” Mistymon said, pointing his finger at the pink knight before he crossed his arms, “And I _happen_ to hold my loyalty to be as important as anyone I really care about! In fact, I would never try to do anything to willingly betray you or Tandy, and we _both_ know that! Besides, you need to work on your temper, since you tend to be on the ‘stab or punch first and ask questions later’ side of things! Did you really not expect this to happen when we met again!?”

“I cannot _believe_ we’re even having this conversation.” Crusadermon shouted as she threw her arms up in the air, “I actually thought that when we met again Dynasmon, that we’d be just like the better part of old times! Fighting evil instead of each other, going out together under the moonlight like we did in the old days when we weren’t on duty, and maybe even _actually_ try starting work on that rose garden you and I always talked about!”

“You didn’t try doing it on your own without me!?” Mistymon then shouted as a few digimon walked by and stopped to see the argument roll out, “You had forty five damn years to do so, and yet you just chose to spend all of them in a cave on Infinity Mountain!”

“It wouldn’t have been the same without you, Dragon Breath!” Crusadermon snapped, and also began the name calling phase of the argument.

“Hey! That was only one time you Ribbon Twirler!”

“Scale Brain!”

“Briar Thorn!”

“Lapdog!”

“ROCK HEADED MULEMON!” Mistymon shouted, and by now even Wisemon had stopped to watch the fight, but at the magic knight’s last insult, the book dwelling digimon sighed and counted down to zero before Crusadermon then punched Mistymon hard enough that he became stuck inside the wall and also unable to move as she stomped off into the city muttering some very unladylike and unknightly things under her breath.

“Satisfied?” Wisemon then said as the other digimon that had gathered ran away as fast as they could, “Not every day you see two Royal Knights argue to the point of name calling and violence. Quite a good show I would say.”

“Fuck off Wisemon” Mistymon growled, and watched as the digimon simply laughed and walked back to the lab while looking quite satisfied over something, before the currently stuck magical knight sighed. “Kudamon _can’t_ be having as much trouble as I am right now.”

~~000~~

Meanwhile on GranLocomon, Kudamon was in fact facing off against what looked to be a robotic, humanoid, winged leopard digimon with a rapier and long, and very fabulous blond hair. Around its waist was a red sash, while its elbows and knees were surrounded by silver rings. It’s face however, while it had a red eyed leopard’s head as a helmet, it’s green eyes showed through its blue but still cat-like mask while its mouth was covered by a silver plate.

With its blade pointed at the little bullet weasel, it seemed focused only on Kudamon, while Bruce and FanBeemon were hiding behind Roland the Aegiomon just between the weasel and the controls and even Piedmon was trying to slow down GranLocomon, who was currently moving at too high a speed to simply pull the brake safely. As for Nomad he was calmly sitting by the busted window, and looking behind the intruder, where Thor was trying his best to awaken an unconscious Percy Black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter debuts what's become one of my favorite characters in this fic: Mistymon the Magic Swordsman.
> 
> Why is he my favorite? Because he ended up developing into what may just be the most entertaining character yet while plotting this fic. Yes, even more than Piedmon. Of course, Mistymon here won't really pull out the stops until late in arc three, so my dear readers you'll have to wait and see before he becomes what may just be a very odd interpretation of Dynasmon in well, any form. Also, his arguement with Crusadermon was fun to write, and was hopefully refreshing compared to romantic fluffy that's usually seen for well, couples.
> 
> As for the chat between Tandy and Aldamon? Trying to write about political subjects from the view of a thirteen year old is difficult, and I hope I pulled it off. Also, Aldamon's a big dork around Tandy, ain't he? 
> 
> By the way? The Relationship between Tandy and Aldamon is going to be important later, and not in the romantic sense.
> 
> Anyway, next time: We catch up with Percy's group and figure out how they got into the mess shown at the end of this chapter, and what happens after that.


	19. The Start of Another Detour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just before the train is attacked, Percy Black ends up passing out and falling ill. However, the train's attacker may also have not just a link to Kudamon's past as Sleipmon, but also a key to know where our heroes can get some help out in the middle of nowhere...

Some time before GranLocomon was attacked, things were going smoothly as the party consisting of Percy, Kudamon, Bruce, FanBeemon, Thor, Piedmon and their new companion Nomad were making good time heading south towards Ancient Kazemon’s cave in order to retrieve Brisingamen and Laevateinn for Percy. Of course, this peace would not last as Thor got up to check on a pounding he heard in the bed filled rest car, as well as a muffled voice on the other side of the door.

Opening it up and going inside, he looked around and didn’t see anything off at first, but then he noticed they had a stowaway and they were looking right at the Prince of Asgard while trying to untangle themselves from the blanket they had managed to drag down onto the floor with them.

“Uh… hi there.” Roland the Aegiomon said once he managed to get his mouth uncovered, and soon saw that Thor was not at all too happy about the unexpected guest as he looked down at the satyr, the Asgardian frowning as he crossed his arms. Roland only had time to gulp before Thor picked him up- blanket and all, and carried him out to the rest of the group in the main car where Percy had been practicing small illusions to entertain Bruce and FanBeemon, while Piedmon slowed down the train in order to see what was up when Roland started to protest. As for Nomad, he was at the bar getting him a glass of water, and leaned against it with intrigued look on his face as he stared at the new guest.

“I’m so sorry!” Roland said as he tried to once again get loose from the blue blanket he was wrapped up in, “I swear, I didn’t mean to stow away with you guys! I just needed a place to hide from Witchmon during the party, and well… I ended up falling asleep.”

“I have my doubts.” Thor said sternly, as he clearly did not like the situation at hand.

“Let him go, Thor.” Nomad then said, “We’re already moving, and I don’t think- if what you told me earlier about that whole ‘Worthiness’ thing is true, that your hammer would like you throwing a defenseless…uh… person… off the train.”

Thor didn’t say a thing, knowing that a cruel act such as Nomad had described would definitely not be something one worthy of Mjolnir would do, at least not to an innocent. A villain, perhaps, but not an innocent, even if they were a bit whiny and skittish.

Besides, after their current quest was over, they could leave Roland with the Resistance so he could become someone else’s problem. With a snap of his wrist, Thor then untangled the struggling satyr, and let him fall on the floor with a loud “thud,” which then caused Bruce to go over and check on the odd digimon, as Kudamon and FanBeemon also decided to follow the youngest member of the group. FanBeemon followed because he was curious on how Bruce would handle the satyr, and Kudamon did so in order to stretch his legs a bit while the boy helped Roland up and led him to another part of the car that was as far from Thor as possible.

Now that he was alone in his little area however, Percy seemed to become lost in thought as his mind went back to Sheena’s capture, and how he couldn’t stop it from happening. He tried thinking back to the event and replay it in his mind again and again, just trying to figure out how he could have saved her from getting captured in the first place. He at first thought that maybe he should have fought with her, Kukumon, and Reppamon before fighting Piedmon, but that wouldn’t have freed the clown from Lillithmon, and possibly get him captured as well. Next, he thought about if he had used his powers to freeze the Vilemon first, before fighting Piedmon with Sheena, but that idea would have led to not only Sheena finding out the hard way about his powers, but also have led to her potentially despising him as well if he whipped out Jotun Mode while she was watching. Sure, he wanted to tell her before they were attacked, but he actually preferred to have let her find out on his own terms, and Percy not having been forced to reveal it in the heat of battle.

His thoughts then went from the what if scenarios to wondering what happened to Sheena after her capture. Was she still Lillithmon’s prisoner? Was she asleep and encased in crystal like Thor had been? Would he even be able to save the girl or would he end up indirectly causing her death?

_Was she even still alive at all?_

Those questions and what seemed like millions more swarmed around his mind to the point where he didn’t even notice Nomad sit down next to him as the teen became filled with worry over his pink haired friend. Percy tried to reassure himself that she’d be fine, that he would be able to rescue her, and yet he couldn’t convince himself that would be the truth in the end. He kept silent as he ignored Nomad’s attempts in trying to get his attention, and instead wished for a way, just any possible way in the digital world to have a chance to check on Sheena Barnes, and just know if she was okay.

Then, the teenage punk from Cardiff started to feel a bit warm as he thought he saw the train car spinning slightly. Shaking his head to clear his vision before standing up, he tried to focus on getting him something to drink, just to cool him down and still unaware that Nomad and even Thor were able to notice that something was wrong.

“Percy?” Thor even asked, but the teen didn’t seem to hear him as he walked towards the bar, only for his vision to blur even more and also cause him to trip over his own feet as he felt like his body was on fire. Thankfully, Thor was able to catch him before he hit the floor, the worried Asgardian finally getting the teen’s attention as he spoke again.

“Percy! What is wrong with you?” he asked, causing Percy to look confused as he could barely hear his grand-uncle, much less see him clearly when the Asgardian was right in front of him.

“I don’t…” he began to say quietly before immediately passing out as sweat beaded on his forehead.

“What happened!?” Piedmon said as he continued running GranLocomon.

“Percy’s just got himself a fever and passed out, Piedmon.” Nomad said, trying to remain calm while Thor tried to wake the teen up, “Probably just needs some rest and some ice, and he should be fine.”

“Bruce, can you do anything to help out?” Piedmon then asked, causing the youngest of the group to flinch a bit.

“I didn’t think that Percy would get sick on the trip!” Bruce then said in panic, “And I’m not a people doctor, I just have a good idea on how to make animals better by watching momma work in her clinic! I’m also only nine years old, so I think we might need a _real_ doctor to see if Percy’s just got a fever or something worse.”

“Bruce kinda has a point.” Roland said, “Do you think we can try and look for a town with an actual doctor in it?”

“I’ll need to slow GranLocomon down first, to make the search easier, but I’ll see what I can do.” Piedmon said, before slowly easing up on his playing in order to gradually slow down the speeding train, as it was currently going so fast, that just pulling the emergency break would most likely cause the train to not only stop, but also fall over and hurt his passengers as well.

The fact something decided to make some noise by landing on the roof of the train was not exactly comforting either.

“You all heard that, right?” Roland then asked nervously as Kudamon sensed danger and scampered to the middle of the car, ready to try and fight as Roland tried to act as a Shield for Bruce while FanBeemon hovered next to the satyr. Nomad however, merely scooted over as something swung down into the train car and broke through the window in the process, before landing in its feet between Kudamon, and Thor. 

That something of course, looked like a brown and white armored robot with a blue and silver face and green eyes underneath a red-eyed, leopard-like helmet with long and very fabulous looking blond hair attached to it and wings connected to his shoulders. Silver rings surrounded its elbows and knees, while a red sash was tied around its waist. The mechanical leopard-man also had a short tail topped with a yellow ball of fluff, and held a fencing foil in his right hand, pointing it at Piedmon’s back and not really noticing the little white and gold bullet weasel in front of him.

“Oh no, we’re gonna die.” Roland then squeaked, frozen with fear as he remained where he was, while FanBeemon prepared to attack with a Gear Stinger.

“This vehicle,” the intruder then said, his voice having a German accent to it as well as sounding as though he was forcing it to sound deep just to make himself seem threatening, “is to be commandeered for use by the Royal Knights, and any resistance shall be quickly struck down.”

The apparent Royal Knight then raised his foil in front of him and placed his other hand behind his back, as if waiting for those in front of him to make a move while completely ignoring Nomad and Thor behind him. In fact, Nomad, who was still seated and seemingly uncaring about the potential threat, then silently signaled to Thor to throw Mjolnir at the would be hijacker’s back to knock him down.

Getting the hint, Thor merely smirked and gave a nod to the cloaked wanderer.

“Now then,” the knight then said, unaware of what was going on as Thor readied his throw, “Who among you thinks you can–”

The sound of Mjolnir hitting the intruder’s armor rang beautifully as it not only interrupted the failure of a thief but also knocked him forward so that his face was just a few inches away from Kudamon. As he struggled to get up, the stranger cursed in German, but couldn’t even lift his body as Mjolnir kept the robotic leopard man pinned to the floor thanks to the fact that the failed hijacker was apparently not worthy enough to lift it. In fact, seeing the struggling fool caused Thor to smile even more, as it was not only entertaining to watch, but also let the Asgardian know that the supposed “Royal Knight” was apparently not that good at his job.

Of course, watching Kudamon then smack the Royal Knight’s armored face with the holy golden bullet attached to his tail, and actually causing the failed thief pain was also enough to make Thor try very hard not to laugh as he held on to his sick grand nephew. Kudamon then used his tiny red claws to scratch at the pinned knight’s eyes, causing his pinned victim to shout in pain. The holy bullet weasel then continued just going berserk on the intruder’s face, scratching, smacking, and as his new scratching post flailed and flapped his shoulder wings as he never even thought to grab at his tiny assailant, Kudamon finally decided to charge up one final attack.

“Holy Shot!” Kudamon shouted, hitting the stranger’s face with a beam of holy energy at point blank range, and even then that wasn’t enough to calm the little holy beast down as it seemed ready for another round while the pinned scratching post just blinked.

“Geeze! What is your problem!?” the Knight then said before once again trying to get up, his previously deep voice no longer sounding forced as it went into his higher pitched natural one. In fact, the poor knight actually sounded like a teenager just a little older than Percy more than anything, and as everyone but Piedmon continued to watch, it soon became clear just why Kudamon raised hell on the digimon’s armored face.

“You should be ashamed of yourself Leopardmon!” Kudamon then shouted, “Not only have you abused your status as a Royal Knight to try and steal a vehicle, but you once again failed to observe your surroundings, and as a result opened yourself up to an attack!”

“Do I know you?” Leopardmon then asked, the question going ignored as Kudamon continued his tirade.

“I thought I trained you better than this! Here I am, reborn after a year, having _hoped_ you were paying attention during all that time I was made your mentor, and yet here you are, making me ashamed to even be _associated_ with you! You were celebrated as the strategist of the Royal Knights, but ever since you spent too much time on the Petermon mission, you’ve been mentally stuck as a rookie trapped inside a Royal Knight’s body! Do you have any idea how many headaches you caused me before and after that incident!? Honestly, you were as much of pain back when you were downright anal when it came to protocol as you are now as a clumsy, childish, inattentive _novice!_ Also, you’re not even supposed to be out in the field right now! You’re supposed to be recovering in Magna Town until you’re able to perform your duties as a Royal Knight again both physically _and_ mentally!”

“Wow.” Nomad said with a nervous laugh, “I guess Kudamon used to be a C.O. back in the day.”

“I…. am oddly reminded of my days at the Training Hall in my youth.” Thor said, actually feeling sorry for Leopardmon right now.

Leopardmon however, simply stared at the fuming bullet weasel in front of him, and letting Kudamon’s words sink into his brain and thinking about them for a bit until things started to click as he suddenly seemed to recognize his former companion.

“Oh, Sleipmon Sempai. Didn’t recognize you at first.” Leopardmon then said as if he hadn’t just been chewed out, and also causing the little bullet weasel to twitch a bit out of building rage, “When did you become a Rookie again? I must have missed the memo that you died when Gallantmon visited me last time.”

“Leopardmon…” Kudamon then said darkly, glaring at his former student before immediately shouting, “HOW THE FUCK DID YOU NOT REALIZE I WAS GONE FOR A YGGDRASIL DAMNED YEAR?! AND DON’T CALL ME SEMPAI, DAMMIT!”

“Kudamon said a bad word!” Bruce said, while FanBeemon simply decided to hide behind his partner with Roland as both were now frightened by the normally quiet and stoic Kudamon’s rage. Nomad however, simply flinched and whistled before scooting away in his seat, while Thor seemed to be the only one not put off by Percy’s Partner just losing it. Piedmon however, was simply ignoring the chaos behind him for now and focusing on slowing down GranLocomon.

“I just thought you went off to take a vacation in the Ring of Sincerity for time by the beach with a a few pretty Digi-Ladies when Gallantmon told me you were ‘unable to come see me for a while.’ He’s usually pretty nice when it came to delivering new to me!” Leopardmon then said, earning him a bullet smack on the nose, causing him to use a free hand to cover it and whimper afterward.

“You’re the one who wants to slack off and go to the beach!” Kudamon roared in his still young sounding voice, “I however, had to go and investigate a castle in Little Witchelny last year, got possessed by a Parasimon, and then die while being forced to kill Medieval Dukemon!”

“Oh!” Leopardmon said, “So… what are you doing now, Sleipmon?”

“I’m helping the resistance, and at the moment my human partner Percy Black try and find his weapons in Ancient Kazemon’s cave to the south.” Kudamon growled, “But, since my partner is currently passed out from sudden illness, we need to delay our quest, again, in order to find him a doctor.”

“Oh! I know where one is!” Leopardmon said, his tail actually wagging while his big green eyes sparkled with excitement- though Kudamon thought for a moment that the former knight’s eyes seemed rather hesitant as he spoke, “Hey Mr. Clown? Can you take this train to Magna Town? There’s a doctor there named Lotusmon who can help! She’s pretty nice too, and she’s helping two other knights right now!”

“Thank you!“ Piedmon said quickly, as he managed to hear the destination and quickly used the screen above the controls to put the destination in.

“Uh… Leopardmon?” Bruce asked, gathering his courage to approach the apparently not that dangerous (and also very bumbling) Royal Knight, “What’s Magna Town?”

“Oh it’s a medical resort run by one of the Four Great Dragons, Magnadramon! Though, there’s only three left now since Megidramon died five years ago… but since he was kind of the only evil one, no one really cares.” Leopardmon said, “Anyway, Magnadramon is currently protecting the town from evil with a holy energy field that blocks out evil digimon like Lillithmon, and has been since she took over the Ring!”

“Uh… should we really be trusting the guy who just tried to steal our train? Also, didn’t Kudamon say that Leopardmon isn’t supposed to be out and about” Roland asked, while Leopardmon flinched a bit as everyone that was able to then looked at the feline Royal Knight.

“The satyr does have a point…” Thor said as he moved Percy to one of the couches on either side of the car.

“I’m not a Satyr! I’m a human!” Roland cried in protest and stomping his goat hoof down on the floor before crossing his arms and pouting.

“Uh… Sleipmon?” Leopardmon then said before anyone could ask him just what he was doing, “Does the Aegiomon there have a bit of Malware or something?”

“Not even Anubismon knows, and he even checked when we saw him in Little Witchelny.” Kudamon said with a groan, and despite his size was actually considering going to get a large bottle of the strongest booze Piedmon had on board to try and calm down after dealing with Leopardmon’s stupidity.

“Okay.” Leopardmon then said, “Hey, can I get up now?”

“You are to stay where you are until we arrive at Magna Town, if it does indeed exist.” Thor said while taking Percy’s leather jacket off of the teen in order to help cool him down.

“Awww… but my back is really starting to hurt now!” Leopardmon whined as his shoulder wings started flapping around quickly, “Can’t I just get up and stretch for a little bit?”

“No.” Thor said flatly, “However, you could perhaps explain why you’re not in Magna Town like you’re apparently supposed to be.”

“I… uh…” Leopardmon said a bit nervously, “I saw one of the other Knights get brought into Magnadramon’s Palace by the nurses, and since it was well past the day they were supposed to visit me this year… I figured I’d sneak out and try to find the others and see if I could help after hearing what happened with Plutomon?”

“Is that all?” Piedmon then asked as he listened in to the explanation, “I don’t think it would be wise to lie right now, Leopardmon.”

“That’s the truth, I swear!” Leopardmon then said, “Wh-what other reason would I have for leaving a nice place like Magna Town? Especially Doctor Lotusmon’s wonderful care?”

Seeing how nervous Leopardmon looked, caused Roland of all digimon to notice that something felt rehearsed or at most forced about that answer, and the satyr crossed his arms in thought as it seemed to awaken something in him as well: a drive of sorts to try and find the truth behind a mystery.

“Leopardmon,” Roland then said, “Is… there something you’re afraid of?”

“Me? Afraid? Only a little!” Leopardmon said quickly, “In fact, I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting into trouble for sneaking out before I was cleared for duty by Lotusmon, but, hopefully I’ll be fine if my stunt shows I’m able to strategize quickly again, right? So, by that logic, I should be able to get cleared for active duty anyway since I wasn’t caught until after the fact!”

“FanBeemon… please do something to shut him up.” Kudamon then groaned before hopping away towards the bar to try and see what he could find to ease his own Leopardmon induced headache.

“Got it!” FanBeemon then said with a nod as he flew upward, aimed his stinger, and fired. “Gear Stinger x30!”

What followed as a lot of tiny barbed stingers hitting Leopardmon, causing him enough pain to make him pass out. The fact that Roland accidentally helped by kicking the Royal Knight’s head after the bug’s attack when he suddenly found himself saying “Iron Thrust” followed by a backwards kick with his goat legs was also a major factor. Of course, Roland was still just trying to figure out where that even came from as Thor went to the bar to try and find some ice to help cool Percy down, before taking a moment to speak with Kudamon.

“How could someone like _Leopardmon_ end up as a Royal Knight?” the Asgardian said, causing Kudamon to groan again as he stretched his body from its tiny bullet while going up to a rather high shelf to inspect it.

“Yggdrasil, the computer that runs the Digital World and selected the Royal Knights after Imperialdramon the Paladin founded them chose Leopardmon while he was still a great strategist. It was a long time ago, when he assisted the other Royal Knights at the time with a mission involving a rampaging Rhinomon that was causing trouble in the Village of Spirits. However, when he was turned into a Rookie for a while during an incident with a digimon named Petermon and his mission to take over the digital world and be the only champion among countless rookies… he was still stuck as a Rookie, or child, mentally when he returned to normal. Most likely because it took a lot of Tinkermon dust to de-age him completely in the first place. He was reinstated by Yggdrasil… and unfortunately I got stuck with him as a student again because I assume the computer’s AI thought it would be funny to see that idiot annoy the hell out of older Knights like me, Omnimon, and Gallantmon.”

“I think I understand.” Thor said, “Are there any other Royal Knights you’re not fond of?”

“Only one.” Kudamon growled, “He joined only eleven years ago, but if I ever see that mockery of a Royal Knight again, I am going to lose it! Especially if he does that stupid dance of his after every victory, keeps acting so laid back even when he is on duty, and make those stupid jokes as if he was in a comedy routine! I swear, when Yggdrasil made that one digimon a royal knight, he was intentionally trying to drive me up the wall!”

Thor said nothing as he gently patted the little digimon’s head with his finger, only to look at Nomad when the stranger laughed.

“Sorry, I was just remembering a joke I heard once regarding a pair of Sukamon that… most of those here aren’t even old enough to know about.” Nomad said causing Thor to look even more confused.

“Sukamon?” he then asked Kudamon.

“Living…. dung.” the bullet weasel groaned and also trying to avoid another bit of cursing in front of young Bruce. “It also has an attack that unleashes a stench that causes an opponent to try and find a bathroom as soon as possible, and sadly, it’s not to see the contents of what they last ate.”

“Disgusting.” Thor said and mentally hoped to never see such a thing, and also to never ask Nomad about that joke he mentioned. Thankfully, Thor found the ice maker and after finding a small bag to put it in, filled it up and started walking back to Percy.

As Nomad kept watching however, he noticed time start to slow down once again as all but him came to a stop and the world turned black and white. Turning his head, he saw Swallowtail looking at him, his arms crossed and the living swarm of butterflies acting annoyed about something.

“You have anything to do with the duel’s results back in Little Witchelny, or Percy’s current predicament?” he asked, getting right to the point.

“I already told you _Snowball,_ ” Nomad said in annoyance, “Witchelny stuff is out of my Jurisdiction. Now pay up.”

Swallowtail grumbled as he reached into his coat and pulled out a bag of money and handed it to the waiting Nomad. Once paid, the cloaked traveler then hid it inside his robes while the living swarm didn’t leave right away.

“What about Percy?” the masked man then asked, “The Digital Knights are in your power to affect after all.”

“Not this time, Snow Boy.” Nomad then said “He probably literally worried himself sick over something, never said a word to me, too. Besides, I can’t read minds you know. Now, is there anything else you want to accuse me of? Or can we just let things resume again?”

“No…” Swallowtail then grumbled, “But if I find out you’re doing that ‘thing’ again, you _will_ be in a lot of trouble.”

“Like I’d willingly repeat what happened _last time._ ” Nomad said dryly just before Swallowtail left the train and let time resume as if it never stopped at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this chapter we meet another Royal Knight, who apparently had been sent off to Magna Town some point before the story to try and get better, and also hasn't left since he was brought in. 
> 
> Reasons why unfortunately, won't be explored in the next couple of chapters, but I will try and go more into detail later on in the fic overall.
> 
> Also, we see a hint of who Roland used to be, as well as get a glimpse of what Kudamon had thought of at least two of his coworkers before his death as Sleipmon. As for the other guy he's describing? Spoilers~!
> 
> Next time, we'll be seeing how trailmon stations can work in this fic's version of the digital world, and what's been going on in Percy's head after he passed out.


	20. Percy Black's Unusual Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our heroes reach Magna Town, and Percy meanwhile, has an unexpected encounter in his dreams.

When the heroes arrived at Magna Town, it in fact looked more like a very nice, if small, ancient city with pink marble columns, a lot of flowers lining the roads from what they could see as they drew closer to the main gate, and in the very center, a beautiful palace that was also made of pink marble. Of course, the town also had a station for digimon like Trailmon, Locomon and even the GranLocomon our heroes were traveling in, where they can stop, rest, and even get cleaned up a bit. However as the train was about to enter, it immediately stopped due to the glowing shield of energy around the city gate.

Then, the speakers crackled to life, as an unfamiliar voice came through them, sounding gruff and kind of beastly as well.

“Breaker, breaker, this is Rubber Duck in the Magna Town Base Station.” the voice said, while Thor looked pretty confused at what he was saying, “Unicorn, can you do a Radio Check?”

“What sort of speech was that?” Thor said, “It… sounded like English, yet it made no sense.”

“It’s just some Trail Talk.” GranLocomon said, “Spawned from the Human World’s CB Radio terminology after some transmissions were picked up in the Digital World by someone known as U.S. One.”

“Break-19, break-19.” Rubber Duck said, “Unicorn, do you copy?”

“10-2 Rubber Duck” GranLocomon then said, “Just had to sandbag you a bit to remember the jargon, it’s been a while since I had to use it.”

“Ah, an old timer then.” Rubber Duck then said, “Okay Unicorn, what’s your handle, and what brings you to the Pink Palace?”

“Rubber Duck, this is Magic Music, a BTO that’s gone back to the rails for a job. I’ve got a sick passenger that needs a doctor and a check up.” GranLocomon then said, “I’ve come in from Turtle Valley and I’ve been forced to take a detour.”

“Roger Magic Music,” Rubber Duck said, before what sounded like something getting knocked over came over the speakers. “Magic Music?! I thought you were Gone 10-7?”

“Negatory Rubber Duck, I’m still living. I was just stuck as a Sucker for a while after going from Steamer to Unicorn, and later Goin’ on Break when my Conductor settled down.”

“Copy, Magic Music.” Rubber Duck said then, “Just tell me who all you’re carrying, and I’ll see if I can let you in. Sorry about the trouble, but the Big Pink wants to make sure none of the Wicked Witch’s goons get in.”

“Roger, Rubber Duck.” GranLocomon then said in agreement, “I’ve got the Wicked Witch’s ex-butler after going fugitive at the Keyboard, 4 Humans, a Holy Beast, a Royal Knight, an Insect and one very confused God Man Digimon on board” 

“Piedmon’s with the Resistance now?” Rubber Duck said, sounding rather impressed before going silent for a few minutes. “Okay Magic Music, that’s a 10-4 to let you in the Chicken Coup. I’m Clear.”

“Clear after you Rubber Duck.” GranLocomon said before ending the conversation. The shield then shimmered a bit, and created an opening big enough for the train to go through, and also closing up behind the group once it was inside. After Piedmon played slowly into the station and then getting settled into a stop, the doors opened to allow everyone off but Piedmon, who chose to stay behind to keep GranLocomon company. Even Thor, as he carried Percy out of the train held out his hand to call Mjolnir into it and also unpinning Leopardmon in the process.

Of course, they were then soon met with a large, dragon like digimon covered in mostly red fur with jagged black stripes while there were white patches on its paws and muzzle, as well as a white underbelly and mane. It’s tail looked like a twisted rag with a golden spearhead on the tip, and two sets of silvery, bat-like wings- the first set large and the second much smaller while both had five golden spikes attached to them by rings pierced into the very edge of them. as well as more gold bits of metal tipping the end of each “finger” that were joined by the webbing on all four wings. Combined with the red eyes, short fangs in its mouth, a black spike on both hips, and the wicked looking blade growing out of its nose, it looked rather frightening.

As Thor also noticed, it seemed to remind him of a certain digimon he saw back in the Resistance Base, especially as it’s forehead contained a red gem he knew he had seen before.

“Welcome to Magna Town.” the digimon then said, his voice being that of the mysterious Rubber Duck who spoke to them before, “I’m DoruGreymon, the Dispatcher and as you probably figured out already, Rubber Duck.”

“I had honestly expected a bird, and not a large, red form of Dorumon.” Thor admitted then, causing the long necked dragon to raise his head in surprise.

“Dorumon’s my Rookie form, but I haven’t been one in years, how’d you know about it? I mean, I’ve been the only one for a while now.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kudamon said, while perched around Thor’s shoulders, “Now, about that doctor for my partner?”

“Follow me.” DoruGreymon then said as he turned around, and also accidentally smacking Leopardmon in the face with the tip of his tail.

~~000~~

The last thing he remembered, was being on the train, with Thor looking worried about him before the teen had blacked out. Now, Percy was awake, or at least he thought he was, but all he could see around him was darkness, while his body as a whole seemed to be visible as plain as day.

Then he realized that he seemed to be all alone, without even Kudamon resting around his neck.

As he got up he immediately noticed he didn’t feel sick anymore, and started walking forward, hoping to find something that could let him figure out where he was, and also if he was completely alone like he thought. More importantly however, he wanted to know just what was going on.

He didn’t know how much time had passed once he began walking before he heard it, but when he did he stopped.

“Is someone here?” he heard someone say, and immediately recognized the voice as someone he hadn’t heard in a while- Sheena Rikki Barnes. “Please, tell me there’s someone else here! Just where is this place? Where’s Vukumon? I’m not alone, am I?

It was faint when he first heard her, but as she kept talking, he immediately ran towards where he thought it was coming from, her questions getting louder the closer he got. When he spotted her though, he saw she was alone and actually afraid as she sat down and curled up into a ball and just trying her best to hold on to her hope.

“Sheena!” he said as he ran towards her, causing the girl to look up and see him, and also looking relieved. In fact, she soon got up and ran straight towards Percy as well, the teen stopping just in time to avoid crashing into her while she immediately hugged him as tightly as she could while also afraid he’d leave her all alone if she didn’t hold on to him.

“Percy, oh am I glad to see you!” she said, having apparently been on the verge of crying as the teen saw her teary eyes. “I don’t know where we are, where Vukumon is, how long I’ve even been here, and… and I’m scared.”

“Don’t worry Sheena.” Percy said as he spoke quietly to try and calm her down while also hugging her back, “As far as I know, we’re probably both asleep, with you somewhere in Lillithmon’s palace, and me, I think, still on GranLocomon. I tried to rescue you shortly after you were captured with Piedmon’s help- he’s on our side now, but instead we ended up having to retreat after rescuing Thor when something went wrong.”

“What went wrong?” Sheena asked, looking Percy in the eye, and finally seeing the new scars he had through his eye, across his nose and finally on his cheek, “And what happened to your face?”

“A Norn stone I had on me reacted badly with the crystal Thor was encased in, and well… there was an explosion, crystal shards got stuck in a few places, and I almost died.” Percy said, causing Sheena to gasp in surprise after he showed the girl the crystal stuck in his hand, as well as the scars he had on his arm. “Valkyrimon managed to get most of them out though, but this one decided to fuse into my hand… for some reason.”

“Wait…” Sheena then said as she pulled back, “What’s a Norn stone, and how did you even get it?”

“It’s basically a magic rock that does stuff and there’s a lot of them, and they also vary from person to person. Mine’s a custom one that’s meant to get me out of a bind or get past traps, protect me from magic, and well, open up locks and prisons.” Percy said, “As for where I got mine… well, my grandfather gave it to me when I was little.”

“Okay, did your grandpa tell you about all that? In fact, I don’t think you ever mentioned him before, or that you even know about magic?” Sheena asked, causing Percy to remember that he never got to tell her his family secret.

“Yeah… but well, there’s a reason why I never told you about him or the magic thing. I mean, I tried to tell you ever since you beat Mercurymon, and before you were captured but things kept interrupting.” Percy said before just sighing and getting to the point. “My Grandfather is Loki Laufeyson, he’s my mum’s dad, and he’s the one Thor usually fought against back in our world when it came to Asgard stuff. Because of that, I’m a quarter Frost Giant, I have super powers, and if you want to call me a monster or something… I’ll understand.”

Percy then fell silent, looking away from Sheena as he was unsure if she’d react like a lot of Resistance members did after he was made to reveal the truth to them.

“You’re joking, right?” Sheena then asked, causing Percy to look surprised, “I mean, you look pretty normal to me.”

“Didn’t you see my battle with Piedmon, or how I looked just before you were captured?” Percy then asked, causing Sheena to shake her head and give a rather awkward smile.

“Er… I think the Vilemon that had the can stuck to his head was covered in plumbing glue or something, all I remember was fighting them, and a weird smell, after that things are pretty fuzzy.” Sheena then admitted, her face turning a bit pink out of embarrassment.

Percy however, simply closed his eyes and focused, letting his skin turn blue as he entered his “Jotun Mode.” Once that was done, he opened his eyes which had turned pure red instead of the slate grey they normally were. He then held open his right hand, making a small whirlwind of ice and snow within it while he stared at Sheena, all while looking apprehensive of what would happen next. He then saw she looked a bit frightened and became heartbroken as he looked away again, this time towards the ground as he spoke.

“Sorry… I didn’t tell you before.” he said sadly, “If it weren’t for Grandpa’s reputation, and those times the Frost Giants attacked Earth, well, hiding my heritage wouldn’t have been a priority. I’m also… even more sorry that I scared you Sheena. I mean, as I got to know you better since I moved to New York a few months back, I’ve kind of developed a crush on you…. and here I am now, looking like a monster, spilling my guts out to you and sounding like a bloody creep. This can’t get any worse…”

Sheena was quiet at first, her fear soon giving in to awkwardness about the whole situation. However, she could also see that Percy was telling her the truth, and so her awkward feelings soon faded as she gave an embarrassed smile before speaking again.

“I can see why you hid it.” she said, causing Percy to look at her, his red eyes wide and looking incredibly confused, “The powers I mean, heck, you’ve probably gotten in trouble for it right?”

“You have no idea…” Percy then groaned, and for a moment noticed that the dark void around them seemed to become a bit lighter as he thought he could barely start to make out things around them. “Hell, there was a trial and everything with Esteban acting like a Hypocrite and spewing hatred over what I am, calling me evil, and accusing me of just handing you over to the bad guys! I mean, I did try and save you before the Vilemon got away.”

“Oh wow…” Sheena said with a groan, “Never thought Esteban would be an idiot over something he never even saw!”

The two teens then laughed, the void becoming even brighter as it turned into a garden, and their crests of Hope and Light started to glow on their wrists. Sheena looked around in confusion, while Percy just looked at his crest.

“What’s going on now?” she said, while Percy remained focused on the red, heart-shaped crest.

“I’m guessing it might have to do with our crests reacting.” he then said, “Mine going off after admitting I well… might be in love with you, and yours probably reacting to it in turn and acting like the main light source for this place, and just giving it form rather than the Dark Void it started as.”

Sheena then blushed, and rubbed the back of her head, while her red hat seemed to shift a bit and also mess up her short, pink hair. “Er… well… I mean…. ever since that kiss you gave me after your battle with Apemon, and that kiss for luck before I went to battle Mercurymon… I um… might be crushing on you as well.”

This actually caused Percy’s crest to glow brighter, causing the teen to raise an eyebrow and wondered what that might mean, before Sheena’s confession registered in his own mind, and caused him to blush as well, despite still being blue and icy.

“Uh… about that second snog, I mean kiss…” he said nervously, causing Sheena to look at him with suspicion.

“What about it?” she asked, and getting ready to punch him if she didn’t like his answer.

“I needed to find a way to distract everyone while I cast a protection spell on you in case Mercurymon tried anything to steal your hope… and well… the kiss was all I could think of!” Percy said quickly, “If I had known you’d get captured, I would have renewed it as soon as possible… but well, never had the chance?”

Sheena relaxed and gave a nervous chuckle, “Ah… I always thought that just using mom’s acid crystals to tarnish and melt away Mercurymon’s mirror shields were enough. I mean, his Hope Sucker didn’t even work after I did that. Not to mention the the fact his shields were already cracked too, when I got there.”

“Maybe what you did was enough, but the protection spell probably didn’t hurt either.” Percy said, before giving her a double take, “Wait, ‘already broken?’ What do you mean by that?”

“It’s the weirdest thing!” Sheena said, “He was alone with Jean while she was knocked out and inside a pod when I got there, and he looked like he went through an obstacle course filled with swinging hammers or something… and I’m pretty sure Jean can’t really do well in a fight on her own, especially against that green, metal traffic cone headed weirdo. I mean, he didn’t have a scratch on him when he captured her, so that’s been bugging me for a while.”

Percy thought about the mystery, and remembered something Scott had told him before Sheena went off to battle: about how Jean had somehow caused a monster to start to appear in their room when they were still living in Utah. Of course, as he still didn’t believe the crazy story, he sighed and spoke.

“Maybe it’s better we don’t look into it. Might learn something we shouldn’t have.” he then said, before looking determined as he changed the subject “Anyway, Sheena? I’m going to promise you here and now that I will rescue you from Lillithmon. And if you’re still asleep, I’ll wake you up myself if I have to.”

“Will you use that Norn Stone too?” Sheena then asked, causing Percy to flinch.

“Er… kind of worried about another near death experience if I do… and another visit to Aunt Hela.” Percy then said with a nervous laugh, while Sheena just gently grabbed his hand, the one without the crystal stuck in it.

“Hey, I know you’ll be able to face your fear about using it again,” Sheena then said with a smile, “and if you can’t, then you’ll definitely find another way to bust me out of whatever prison Lillithmon put me in!”

“Thanks.” Percy said, hugging the pink haired girl as the garden they were surrounded by became a fully sunlit one filled with various flowers ranging from daffodils, azaleas, who knew how many types of roses, and so much more. Sheena then decided to kiss Percy right on the lips, causing the boy to look very surprised when she pulled away and smiled.

Unfortunately, before he could ask what it was for, Thor’s voice started ringing through the garden, with Percy’s body starting to fade as he began to awaken.

“Percy! You swear you’ll save me, right!?” Sheena then said, while Percy smiled and gave the girl a thumbs up.

“Yeah.” he said, and soon after, Sheena was alone in the garden, but this time she wasn’t afraid now that Percy reassured her that she would be back with the others safe and sound.

~~000~~

“Percy?” Thor said when the boy started to mumble something under his breath, the boy’s body was blue as his eyes opened, surprising the Asgardian hero when he saw they were red instead of gray.

“Yeah?” Percy then said, before completely leaving the dream he was having, and soon blinking a couple of times to see his grand uncle looking over him with worry while there seemed to be a white curtain behind him as well. He then noticed he wasn’t on GranLocomon anymore, but in a nice room somewhere that was also as pink as the shirt he had on, even if it was looking a little worse for wear now. Across from the wielder of Mjolnir however, was a purple skinned woman in white, and with her weird looking hat, blond hair and how flowy her white robe seemed, looked like she had a lotus motif going on. In one hand was a Caduceus staff, with two snakes wrapped around it: one white, the other black. In her other hand, was a staff topped with a rainbow colored lotus flower, and Percy soon noticed on closer inspection was the fact that the woman was not only wearing fishnet stockings as she stood by the bed, but also black heels and a skimpy outfit worthy of one of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Bunnies.

Percy said nothing at first, sitting up in bed and seeing Roland on the floor muttering something as Nomad poked the dazed satyr with his boot. Kudamon was also being held by an unfamiliar digimon that to Percy, looked like a robotic cat warrior with wings.

“What the bloody hell is going on?” Percy then asked, causing Thor to give an awkward smile as he explained.

“You passed out on GranLocomon, and fell ill.” he said, before looking confused, “Do you not remember? In fact, Leopardmon- after he tried and failed to steal GranLocomon, was able to find you a doctor here in Magna Town.”

“Hello~.” said the woman with a wave of her hand, after placing the lotus staff down on the bed, “I am Doctor Lotusmon, though I’ll admit, I’ve never seen anyone turn blue after I used Serpent’s Cure on them… or well, cover the sheet in frost.”

“Oh.“ Percy then said, realizing he had gone into Jotun Mode outside of his dream as well, and focused as he turned back to normal which led to his red eyes returning to their normal slate gray. After that, he crossed his arms and grumbled once he realized what had happened, “This is the fourth bloody time since I’ve gotten to the Digital World that I’ve been stuck in a bed, and I’m getting bloody well sick of it. First there was that incident during that first Sparring session Cap had us do where Esteban’s partner caused an explosion. Then, I got sick, then came nearly dying, and now I get sick. Again.”

“Um… about the skin?” Lotusmon then asked with a slightly creepy tone to her voice as she leaned forward, causing Percy to decide not to tell anyone about the dream he had.

“Oh, that. Well, I got sick before, so I guess it was some weird thing about me that just acted up to help me cool down from the fever.” he said with a shrug, Thor saying nothing to help keep a lid on Jotun Mode for now, while Lotusmon simply squealed with delight.

“Oh interesting!~” she said as she put her other staff down and clapped her hands, “May I study you? I’ve never had a patient that could do anything like that before!”

“Uh… no.” Percy said, feeling very uneasy by how eager Lotusmon seemed to want to use him as a guinea pig, especially as he tried to get out of bed while he continued, “And besides, I have a job to do. You know, weapons to find, a girl to save, time being of the essence and all that. Really can’t lay back and be studied.”

“Oh no you don’t.” Lotusmon then said as she grabbed the boy’s arm, “You’re fever may have broken, but you need to rest a little while longer, young man. Don’t want to have a relapse, do you?”

Percy however, groaned as Nomad picked up Roland the Aegiomon and left the room, followed by as Leopardmon putting Kudamon down on the bed and following after the cloaked stranger. Though, for some reason the robotic feline seemed nervous about something, as he actually ran out of the room at high speed.

With the groan that followed after Leopadmon left, followed by the curtain behind Thor sliding open, the answer soon seemed to become clear as a very angry looking stranger with a horned and scratched up metal visor over his eyes, bright red hair with sideburns just half as large as Wolverine’s, as well as three strips of hair for a goatee and a thin mustache. The rest of his body however seemed to be covered in a black body suit with a red line going from his chin and stopped just above the waist as well as having more metal accents on his wrists and sides and also a metal plate over his pecs. The stranger’s lower body however, was covered by a bed sheet, and so neither Percy or Thor could see just what else the stranger had to his appearance. On the floor by the bed were a pair of red, Japanese getas that were carefully balanced on a single slat in the middle of each one, while hanging from a chair was a white trench coat.

“What the hell is going on, and just where the hell am I?” the stranger then asked a bit irritably, and judging by Kudamon’s very freaked out expression, the little bullet weasel knew who this was, and just how dangerous they could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter lets us see Sheena Barnes after she went AWOL a while back in this arc. Also, there's fluffy cute shippy stuff between her and Percy, and I'll admit now that I like these two as a pairing ok?
> 
> So yeah... PercyxSheena is official so says the author. Their digimon however aren't going to be shipped together. Sorry.
> 
> Anywho, the part at the start of this chapter with "Rubber Duck" the Dorugreymon is filled with trucker lingo. Why? Well, one, before plotting this chapter I got to see one of the US One reviews for Atop the 4th Wall. Two, I thought it'd be fun.
> 
> As for the Creepy Lotusmon? Thankfully she is not going to become part of the Resistance since well, Valkyrimon is already the main medic, and has a much better bedside manner than Lotusmon. In fact, Lotusmon here may or may not be secretly experimenting on certain patients behind Magnadramon's back, including Leopardmon. 
> 
> As the truth won't be seen this arc, I will however say that it will be revealed. One day. Maybe.
> 
> Anywho, Next time on Digivengers: Bruce makes a new friend, and meets his arch enemy.


	21. Danger! Danger! Danger Bruce Davidson!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An old enemy rears his ugly head for Bruce Davidson and unfortunately he gets uglier...

Kudamon gulped as he stared at the annoyed stranger in the next bed over. They were in Magnadramon’s palace, where the doctor, Lotusmon, worked in order to see what had befallen his partner, Percy, and even after they were brought into the room, the bullet weasel mentally kicked himself for failing to notice another Royal Knight in there with them.

But of all of them however, it just had to be the most fearsome one.

“Gankoomon….” Kudamon then said a bit nervously to the bed ridden, red haired Royal Knight, “It has been a while since I last saw you.”

“I think I’d remember encountering a Kudamon.” Gankoomon said with a frown, “I’ve got a lot of friends, and I’m also pretty sure you ain’t one of them, so where do you get off acting like you know me?”

Kudamon, now a bit annoyed that he was once again unrecognized by another Royal Knight, decided to remind Gankoomon just exactly who he was. “Let’s see, there was once a mission where you and a certain other Royal Knight were sent into the Ring of Courage, in order to find and apprehend the siblings Ginkakumon and Kinkakumon. After an argument, you and that other knight literally fell into their base, were caught off guard by them, and while one knight was forced to clean up Ginkakumon, you became the source of Kinkakumon’s affections and it took you two an entire week to even get a chance to escape!”

Gankoomon, after hearing about the incident was silent for a moment, before immediately turning as red as hair hair- though whether it was from anger or embarrassment was hard to tell. “Dammit Sleipmon, that never happened, and you and I both swore that we wouldn’t mention it!”

“Well, how else was I going to get you to figure out who I was?!” Kudamon snapped and also forgetting his fear.

“What exactly happened to make you both swear to secrecy?” Thor then asked, earning a death glare from both Gankoomon and Kudamon in return.

“None of your business Thor, and if you ask about it again, once we get to the Ring of Courage, Gankoomon and I will drag you to the Oni Siblings’ lair and throw you down there so you can find out!” Kudamon then shouted, while his partner, Percy rolled his eyes while Thor seemed to grin at the idea. Kudamon, realizing his threat backfired, then sighed and muttered some things under his breath that neither Thor, nor Percy could make out.

“So, Sleipmon,” Gankoomon then said, regaining the bullet weasel’s attention and also making sure to use his comrade’s old name out of respect, “Who are those two with ya anyway?”

“I am Thor son of Odin, Prince of Asgard and wielder of Mjolnir.” Thor introduced himself as he held his hand out to Gankoomon, “It is always a fine day to meet a fellow warrior, and I look forward to any potential battles we have either as friends, or as sparring partners.”

“Heh, you’re a bit too formal, Blondie, but eh, you seem like a good guy.” Gankoomon said with a smirk as he shook Thor’s hand. “So then, who’s the kid and my apparent roommate?”

“Percy Black,” said the bed-bound teen while Lotusmon decided to take his arm and check his blood pressure, “My granddad is Thor’s adopted brother, and I’m more for tricks than fists. Also, Kudamon’s my partner since I’m the Digital Knight of Love.”

“You got stuck with Sleipmon?” Gankoomon said, “Has he by tried acting all noble and crap or chewed you out for doing something stupid or acting ‘unknightly,’ Kid?”

Percy took a moment to look at Kudamon, who looked back at his partner, before Percy shook his head. “No, he’s been pretty cool since I met him as Puttimon a couple of months ago. A bit snarky at times towards some digimon, but we really haven’t had any problems. In fact, he tends to let himself rest on either Thor’s shoulders or mine.”

Gankoomon’s jaw dropped, apparently surprised by Percy’s answer. “Wait, Sleipmon actually _likes_ you!? What the hell have you been doing right!?”

Percy only shrugged, causing the red headed Royal Knight to sigh and look around the room. Seeing his wrinkled white coat on the chair, he then became a bit concerned as he looked on the other side of his bed, and even under it, as if looking for something.

“Where’s Huckmon?” he said, causing Kudamon to flinch in surprise, “Last thing I remember before konking out was me and him going through the Ring of Love after getting seperated from the other knights after the whole Ceresmon thing, hoping to find Blanc and Noir to help retrain him back to Jesmon.”

“Jesmon reverted?” Kudamon asked, “Gankoomon how-”

Before he could even finish the question, or get an answer, Thor looked around the room as well and noticed that someone else was missing.

“Strange, young Bruce, son of David seems to have not yet returned with FanBeemon.”

“You stay here and watch Gankoomon and Percy.” Lotusmon then said, after finishing Percy’s examination, “I’ll go find them.”

With that said, the purple skinned doctor then left the room, leaving behind a grumbling and worried Gankoomon, and a confused trio consisting of Thor, Percy, and Kudamon.

~~000~~

Elsewhere in the palace of Magnadramon, Bruce and FanBeemon were looking around with DoruGreymon, mainy because the insect needed to find a bathroom. After business had been taken care of, DoruGreymon then decided to take the two for a small tour to make sure they didn’t earn Lotusmon’s attention, especially since the digimon doctor tended to get a bit too eager with some of her patients.

“Oh man, I’ve hadn’t had a chance to talk to anyone while I was off duty from the station for a long time!” DoruGreymon then said, “Though, I do miss my brother Alphamon, I wonder if he ever reincarnated?”

“I think that’s Megan’s Dorumon, Bruce.” FanBeemon then said, causing their large guide’s ears to perk up before he craned his long neck to look at them in surprise.

“Brother’s been reborn? And he’s with a human partner? What crest does this ‘Megan’ have?” the giant red dragon then asked, looking a bit hopeful as his twisted tail wagged around, and also causing Bruce and FanBeemon to be thankful they were walking beside the big red furry dragon.

“Light, I’m pretty sure.” Bruce said, causing the giant digimon to actually let out a squeal of joy.

“Oh, that’s a wonderful crest for my brother’s partner to have! To think, the master of the Alpha inForce being paired with the chosen hero of Light! My brother couldn’t have been luckier than to have such a powerful partner!”

“What do you mean?” Bruce asked, “And what’s the Alpha inForce?”

“The Alpha inForce is an Ultimate force that can manipulate time. In this case, it can be used to instantly replay an elapsed battle, but all that gets to be seen by everyone else but Alphamon is the final move, so… no one really knows just how many moves my brother would use on his opponent!” DoruGreymon said as he neared fanboy territory and completely forgot the other question all together as he started walking along again, “In fact, I remember my brother once saying that when he uses it, it’s like ‘saving a point in battle, and then just taking advantage of it to use better techniques and skills when things don’t go his way at first, and also study an opponent for weak points and where best to block an attack.”

“Sounds like save scumming in a video game.” Bruce said dryly, “Megan had a habit of doing that sometimes before a difficult boss, or when making choices that would affect the ending.”

Their guide however, didn’t seem to listen as he just babbled along about his first life with his brother, eventually leading DoruGreymon to stop paying attention to Bruce and his partner completely. Of course, as he turned a corner at a fork in the hallway and talked to himself about what he hoped would happen in their reunion, Bruce and FanBeemon headed in a different direction, as they had spotted a familiar bat-like digimon going torwards an area labeled “Staff and Special Clearance Visitors Only.”

Recognizing the bat as DemiDevimon, the two then went after it and soon caught up with the evil rookie as it went through two large double doors. Bruce and FanBeemon then stopped for a moment, seeing that the giant doors were carved with the image of winged, Chinese dragons and also various flowers, trees, rivers and clouds. After their examination however, they soon noticed a smaller door which they could open up, and went through it, only for them to look none too happy as to what they saw on the other side.

In front of them was a very badly hurt and also huge, pink, furry dragon with a dog-like face, two large pink and black striped horns that looked like a gazelle’s, four pairs of wings, and paws like a dog or a lion- Bruce wasn’t sure which. However, their attention was mainly focused on an all too familiar face as he looked a small, white, almost robotic looking dragon with a black jaw and a red, hooded cloak hanging around its neck, though it was currently being held up by the cloak thanks to DemiDevimon while its master created a whip of red energy and grinned evilly.

“Crimson Lightning!” the monster said, before striking again at the young dragon, who grunted in pain, but still seemed too stubborn to let his tormentor win.

“Bastard…” the dragon then said with a glare and a grunt, “Stop… stop tormenting Magnadramon.”

“So insistent on getting in my way while looking me with those rebellious eyes you have, it makes me want to break you so you lose them.” Myotismon then said in disgust, “But the fact you seem so good natured in wanting to protect this dragon, it makes me sick that you actually remind me of that meddling boy with the insect!”

“Myotismon!” Bruce called out, causing the vampire digimon and DemiDevimon to look at the glasses wearing boy, and his insect partner in surprise, before the villainous vampire glared at the child and Bruce could now see that apparently time in Prison had done a number on him, as his formerly well fitting clothes were tattered, stained and full of holes, his hair was a mess, and his mask was a bit lopsided as well. As for his cape… there really wasn’t that much left of it.

“YOU!” Myotismon then shouted, “You brat! You made me lose everything! My job, my place in the Resistance, my reputation and most importantly, my tailor!”

“You shouldn’t have tried hurting Rookies, Fangface!” FanBeemon said, before Bruce decided to digivolve him into Waspmon. Once the little bug turned into the large aerial cannon, he then spoke again with a more adult sounding and commanding voice. “Now, why are you out of Jail, and what are you doing to Magnadramon of the Miracle Four and the Four Great Dragons?”

Myotismon first smiled at the two, snapping his fingers as DemiDevimon dropped the little dragon, and struck him with a Demi Dart to keep it down. Then, the Vampire began laughing much like a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon as he began monologuing.

“I broke out while ElDradimon was looking for a place to land after it entered the Ring of Love.” he began, “Thankfully GranDracmon was elsewhere in the base, so I didn’t need to try and avoid the Warden as I jumped out of ElDradimon’s back entrance, and with DemiDevimon, wandered the Ring until I reached Magna Town. Now, this was conveniently before the great dragon created the shield, and as I held a grudge against my former comrades, I decided to try and kill the beast and help Lillithmon capture Lotusmon in order keep the Resistance from getting a new doctor! But you… You and the Resistance must have heard about Lotusmon’s skill, and have come to stop me! However, I will not let you win! Oh no, HERE YOUNG BRUCE, I ALONE WILL MAKE SURE THAT YOU DIE!”

“Oh great, he’s gone nuts.” Waspmon said flatly as Myotismon then laughed maniacally, while Bruce quietly nodded in agreement, “We didn’t even know he was gone, and he’s just told us his plan… What a ditz.

“Uh… boss?” DemiDevimon then asked, “If you’ve been able to do things on your own… Why did you break me out with ya?”

Myotismon however, said nothing at first, and instead grabbed the little bat-like bowling ball in his hand before opening his jaw wide. So wide in fact, that the vampire’s mouth seemed to unhinge as he then forced his minion down his own throat.

“That is just warped.” Waspmon said in disgust after Myotismon swallowed the little digimon, with even Bruce looking a bit sick at the sight.

Then, things got worse as Myotismon started laughing madly again as his body became nothing but a shadow, before it grew and became something monstrous in shape. Once he became more defined however, he had turned into something nightmarish: his upper half except for his head was encased in a red exo-skeleton with black belts wrapped around his now ridiculously long arms, just below the elbow, and black pads on the back of his hands that displayed the bat-like symbol normally seen on Myotismon’s boots. The vampire also now had tattered wings, horns, and a wild look in his eye along with very messy blond hair. As for the monster’s lower half, it was covered in black fur except for the bony tail behind him, with four red eyes on his belly under a red bat symbol, white claws on his knees, purple stripes on his legs, and large white, three toed paws with purple talons.

Also, the monster was very, very big.

“HA! HA! HA! HA! Now, I have evolved!” Myotismon then said, apparently having lost even more sanity with the change, “Now, I am VenomMyotismon, the fearsome being born at the time of the beast!”

“It’s 11:42, you dickweed!” Waspmon said, looking at the conveniently placed clock behind the monster’s head. The insectoid flying cannon then moved in to blast VenomMyotismon with its stinger cannon, and distracted him while Bruce moved as quickly as he could past the large monster to help the little dragon, before catching his breath when he finally reached the injured Rookie.

“Who are you?” the dragon then said quietly, as Bruce felt around in his pants pocket before pulling out a repair disk that he immediately used on the dragon.

“My name’s Bruce, my friend Waspmon and I are here to help.” the boy then said with a smile while the healed up dragon nodded just as Waspmon was pinned to the wall by VenomMyotismon. Bruce then looked at his D-Watch, seeing his crest of Kindness activate and immediately, the boy acted by tapping the screen, pushing the digivolve button, and swiping his finger across the watch before it sent a lavender beam towards the bug.

The change was enough to force VenomMyotismon to let go, as Waspmon’s body seemed to become enhanced as new parts just appeared around it. His stinger was first taken off and upgraded to a much larger cannon that lit up with blue lights, followed by his waist and upper body getting a size increase while also becoming a brighter yellow with black stripes. Stronger wings were then added to his sides, while the final piece to be added on the digimon’s back turned out to be a rocket powered, honey-comb like missile container, some yellow and sealed shut, while some of the honey comb cells were surrounded by silver metal, and covered with blue blast shields that seemed to have something behind them already.

“CannonBeemon, ready with the heavy artillery!” The digimon then reintroduced itself once its transformation was complete, his voice having changed once again to sound much more fierce and robotic.“VenomMyotismon, You’ve gotten pretty fugly, but now its time you get bent! _NITRO STINGER!_ ”

The flying fortress’s cannon then charged up, before firing and blasting VenomMyotismon’s head right off before he could even protest. In fact, all that was left was a headless body that just stood there, and the battle seemed to be won.

“Uh… why isn’t he dissolving?” CannonBeemon then asked, immediately noticing that something was wrong, especially once Myotismon’s laughter rang through out the room. Realizing the battle wasn’t over yet, Bruce and the dragon then moved out of the way as the headless digimon then tried to crush them beneath his foot. Thankfully he missed, but Bruce was now closer to the large pink dragon, and once again trying to catch his breath while also taking a moment to cough into a handkerchief as he felt his heart pounding quickly. Bruce and his new friend then looked at the monster, who once again began to speak.

“You foolish digimon!” VenomMyotismon then said as he raised a hand to touch the spot his head had once occupied, “I can’t believe you knocked my head off! Didn’t you know that this is my real body!?”

Suddenly, the lower half of the monster wriggled a bit below his belly, while the claws on his knees turned out to be a pair of extra arms. In fact, the spot just below the four eyes then opened up as it extended a bit, revealing a fanged mouth that then stuck out a tongue- at least, that is what Bruce hoped it was- that wore a mask much like Myotismon, and it too, turned out to have its own set of jaws as it opened up and spoke, looking right at the boys.

“I WON’T LET YOU END ME THAT EASILY, BRUCE!”

All Bruce and the robotic dragon could do now was hug each other tightly and scream as loud as they could while the monster faced them.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, on the other side of Magnadramon’s palace, Gankoomon was unhappy about his current situation when he, as well as Thor, Percy and Kudamon, heard the screams of what sounded like Bruce and someone else. Gankoomon in fact seemed to feel a sudden surge of strength as he jumped out of bed, slipped on his sandals and grabbed his coat as he ran out of the room. Thor however, immediately chased after the Royal Knight, after making sure Percy and Kudamon stayed behind so the teen could get some rest.

“And here I thought this would be a boring day!” Thor said as he caught up to Gankoomon, who seemed to be homing in on where the screams were coming from, especially as they reached a pair of giant doors. The Royal Knight then kicked them wide open and knocked one off its hinges, causing both digimon and Asgardian to see the boys being terrorized by the lower head of a giant monster that was trying to get past a barrier that had been formed around them, and a large pink dragon. The two also saw the hovering fortress, who then spoke up.

“About time!” CannonBeemon then said, “Now, this is going to sound crazy, but I need you two to get the big guy’s attention! Once he’s facing us? We can blast VenomMyotismon’s head off!”

“Got it, Bug!” Gankoomon said, just as a spirit formed above him that looked sort of like a dragon. The Royal Knight then crouched down and actually dug his fingers into the marble floor, before letting out a roar as he called out, “RAGING TABLE FLIP!” Suddenly, the part of the floor he lifted then glowed, becoming a perfectly square chunk of marble that seemed to then turn into metal as he lifted it up into the air, flipping it and letting it fly across the room in an arc before landing with a loud _“CRACK!”_ on VenomMyotismon’s tail.

The monster then screamed and turned his headless upper body towards his attackers, just as Thor swung Mjolnir and threw it while holding onto the handle, causing him to fly upward towards the monster’s chest. Unfortunately, the monster then swatted him back, before the giant monster turned more to face them, the snake like head glaring at them as he spoke.

“Stay out of this Royal Knight and Human Fool.” VenomMyotismon then said, “I only have business with the brat, the rookie, and that stupid insect.”

“Did you just ask me, to stay out of this when you are _clearly_ attacking my son, his friend, and Magnadramon?” Gankoomon growled as CannonBeemon then realized just who this guy was, while Thor got back up off the floor and paid no mind to the fact that the red headed, man-sized Royal Knight just admitted his son was a dragon.

“Yes.” VenomMyotismon said as he made a shooing motion with his hand, “Now go away.”

“WHO THE _HELL_ DO YOU THINK I AM!?” Gankoomon then shouted, the dragon like aura over his shoulders actually getting stronger, while the smaller dragon with Bruce simply saw this and cheerfully raised a claw in support.

“Go get’em Dad!” the young digimon then cheered, before receiving a thumbs up and nod from Gankoomon in acknowledgement.

“Alright Hinukamuy, it’s fightin’ time!” the royally pissed Royal Knight then said as he looked up to his glowing friend before he continued speaking to his two comrades for the fight, “Thor, Bug, let’s give this freak a lesson in messing with kids, _especially when it comes to my son Huckmon!_ ”

“Verily!” Thor shouted as he raised his hammer, and then threw it at VenomMyotismon’s lower head.

“ _Jishin! Kaminari! Kaji! **OYAJIIII!**_ ” Gankoomon shouted, as the spirit Hinukamuy delivered the wrath of heaven with a small earthquake, lightning, and fire as Gankoomon’s apparently fatherly rage strengthened them to the point that even Mjolnir in its flight guided the fissure’s path as the hammer became charged with electricity and surrounded by fire!

“Sky Rocket Infinity!” CannonBeemon then said, before sending off countless missiles from the cache on its back, all of them flying in tandem with the other two attacks as they headed straight towards VenomMyotismon’s weak point. The monster then screamed as the Mighty Crotch Shot of Justice obliterated it, and with the battle finally over, CannonBeemon reverted back to the small and yellow Puroromon. Just as it started fluttering towards his partner, Gankoomon then ran over to the boy and the dragon and got down so he see them at eye level. Thor however, merely walked over as the tired (and adorable) yellow insect landed on the Asgardian’s bare head, as Thor left his helmet behind in Percy’s room during his rush after Gankoomon.

“Are you boys okay?” Gankoomon then said, with both of them nodding.

“Yeah, Bruce here helped me out when Myotismon tried to torture me into submission after I got blindsided by his minion with a Demi-dart while I had fought him in an attempt to protect Magnadramon. He may be a bit weak, but he’s a good kid!” said the dragon, causing Gankoomon to flare up again.

“THAT FANGED BASTARD TRIED TO DO _WHAT!?_ ” he shouted, while Bruce decided to take the chance to use the remaining four Repair Disks he had in his pocket to try and heal up Magnadramon, who looked pretty worse for wear.

“Thank you.” The dragon then said quietly after a yawn, while Gankoomon continued to rant away.

“Oh am I _glad_ I helped blow him to bits! If I saw him torture you like that, Huckmon, I would have ripped out his Digi-core and crushed it then and there, Anubismon be damned!” Gankoomon said, causing Thor to realize the dragon was who the Royal Knight had been worried about once the Asgardian reached the group, and also handed Bruce his currently snoozing partner. However, Gankoomon then stopped and looked curiously at the dragon. “Huckmon, why were you over here in the first place?”

“I just wanted to take Magnadramon’s trial so I can try and get stronger!” Huckmon then said with a smile, causing the Royal Knight to pick up the little dragon and flick one of his ears.

“You may have been a royal knight Huckmon, and you may have some of my data in your digi-core, but dammit, no son of mine is turning into a Slayerdramon!” Gankoomon said, while the little dragon said nothing, it’s golden eyes accepting the punishment. “Besides, ever since Megidramon bit the dust five years ago, no dragon’s been able to complete all four trials, and if you want to get stronger Huckmon, then you’re going to train your tail off with the Sistermon when we find them! Don’t tell me that after we were seperated in the Ring of Kindness, you let yourself slack off before reverting back to Rookie when I found you in Honeyville two months ago!”

“What?! No! I would never slack off dad!” Huckmon said, “That fight we got in just took a lot out of me, and which is why I wanna get stronger! Plus, it’s a Royal Knight’s Duty to protect those from evil, so I was also trying to do my job!”

“Against an ultimate level that tried to break your spirit after you got cocky! I may have trained you enough to take on even Ultimate Level Digimon, but you don’t run into battle without knowing for sure if the opponent has back up hiding somewhere or not, or without knowing when to bring in your own backup! Also, NEVER WORRY THE DIGIMON THAT HELPED CREATE YOU LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN, DAMMIT!” Gankoomon then shouted, now in full on father mode as Thor watched, and also remembered how worried his own father could get in the Asgardian’s boyhood. Of course, as he noted that Gankoomon was Huckmon’s father, the Asgardian decided to never ask about the dragon’s mother. Some things were best left unknown after all.

Of course, the Asgardian then looked towards Bruce, who wasn’t going to get out of this without any problems either.

“Bruce…” Thor then said, getting the young boy’s attention, and also causing the warrior to see that the child seemed much paler than usual, “You should not have run off either. After all, you and FanBeemon were supposed to be looking for a ‘bathroom’ before, were you not?”

“DoruGreymon helped us find one,” Bruce said quietly, “But he started daydreaming when I told him about Megan’s partner, and it turned out her Dorumon is DoruGreymon’s brother. Then, while he wandered off without us during a small tour he gave us afterward to keep us from bothering Lotusmon, we saw DemiDevimon and went after him, because we were worried that there would be trouble, just like last time Myotismon caused trouble and hurt Rookie level digimon back at the Resistance Base a couple of days after we got to the Digital World.”

“Gankoomon, Thor.” the dragon Magnadramon then said, causing both adults to stop and look up at the giant pink dragon, who’s large green eye was staring right at them, “I owe these young ones my life, and I am willing to lend my power to at least Bruce in order to help fight against Plutomon and his minions.”

“How do you know about Plutomon?” Thor asked, causing Magnadramon to look slightly annoyed.

“When you’re friends with a gossiping dragon with a body made of lightning, you get messages and news pretty quickly.” Magnadramon then said, and it soon became apparent that its voice was quite masculine despite his appearance as he continued. “In any event, young Bruce- despite being a human rather than a dragon digimon, seems to have already passed the Trial of Survival from Megidramon… as I sense a fragment of power within the child as old as the hot headed jerk has been deceased. So, as a result of a fluke, he is eligible to continue the Trial of the Four Great Dragons. As I am honor bound by the oath all four of us made when creating the Trial to reward those eligible- as long as they met the requirements to pass each part of the trial- regardless of their circumstances, I must give my gift to him after passing the Trial of Compassion, to help the child control the power he has been unwillingly placed upon the road to gain. However, as Huckmon knew about my trial beforehand, while I do owe him my life as well he only helped to get stronger and so… he will not be getting part of my power.”

“But, I don‘t think I’ve ever met Megidramon.” Bruce said in confusion, and all but Thor seemed to share what the boy felt, “In fact, the first digimon I ever saw were Leomon and Murmukusmon back on Earth a couple of months ago, so I don’t know how I got it.”

“Perhaps the truth will be revealed, in time little one.” Magnadramon said with a smile that was as gentle as he could achieve despite how fierce he looked. “Now Bruce, it’s time to accept your gift.”

It was then, that a tiny ball of pink light formed near Magnadramon’s paw, before turning into a jewel as it flew towards Bruce and entered his body. Bruce then glowed, however there was also a brief appearance of two dragons around his body: one red, the other pink, before things returned to normal. Thor could immediately see that the boy seemed a little healthier than before, and after a brief farewell so Magnadramon could get some rest, the five left the chamber and headed back to Percy’s room.

As they walked, Thor looked down at the young hero, Bruce, who seemed to be squinting through his glasses.

“What ever is the matter, Young Bruce, son of David?” he asked, while the boy frowned.

“I’m having trouble seeing with my glasses on, for some reason… and kind of getting a headache” Bruce said, before taking them off to see if he needed to clean them, of course, his green eyes then widened as he blinked and looked around. “Woah! I can actually see better now! In fact, I’m able to see a lot better than before I needed glasses!”

“Maybe Magnadramon’s gift upgraded your sight?” Huckmon then said before sighing, “Man, I’m so jealous… but I guess I’ll just have to get stronger Dad’s way since well, shortcuts to power are wrong for a warrior to use.”

“Damn right they are!” Gankoomon said while also smirking a bit out of pride his son learned his lesson, before both Huckmon and Bruce chuckled while Puroromon snoozed peacefully on his partner’s head. Of course, as the boy then looked back up at Thor, the Asgardian actually flinched for a moment as he saw the boy’s eyes actually look more draconic for a moment. Of course, they soon returned to normal as Bruce then blinked, and looked worried.

“What’s wrong Thor?” Bruce then asked.

“Nothing,” the Asgardian lied and then gave the boy a smile, “I am just not yet used to seeing you without your glasses.”

As they neared Percy’s room, Bruce then nodded and slipped his glasses into his shirt pocket. In fact, the young boy actually grinned as he became excited over the idea of telling Percy about what he ended up missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this chapter Myotismon returns, digivolves, and since Bruce lacks a couple of angels and two guys with younger siblings that needed to be shot by arrows, he has to make due with his partner, Thor, and Gankoomon in order to destroy him.
> 
> Now, why did Thor refer to the kid as "Bruce, son of David?" because well, it's a bit of a joke in the cartoons nowadays for Thor to say that to guys with "son" as the last part of their surnames. So, I had to throw that in to try and keep Thor in character.
> 
> Now, in regards to the reveal of Myotismon's true head, that's more in reference to V-Tamers rather than what the anime of Digmon Adventure did. Why? Because after seeing the image in question, I felt I had to use that version as well... it was a lot more disturbing and most likely had more impact than well, what the anime did.
> 
> Also, yes. I had Gankoomon give a shout out to Gurren Lagann. I just felt it'd be right to do so for that guy, as would him being a papa wolf when Huck was legitimately in danger... and then chew him out for not being able to handle himself like he was trained to, and also getting cocky.
> 
> So, what is the Trial of the Four Great Dragons mentioned? Well... all that's known is that it's required to have a dragon digimon become a slayerdramon, and that only dragon digimon are allowed to well, take it. Unfortunately, because of the lack of info, I had to make stuff up for what it entails, and because of a fluke, Bruce is able to take it since thanks to Megidramon... he kind of qualifies as a dragon digimon despite being human. 
> 
> Don't try and ask me how, I haven't figured it out yet, so for now... just apply the MST3K mantra.
> 
> Next time on Digivengers: Another look back at the base.


	22. Meanwhile Back at the Base...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events of Magna Town, Gankoomon, Huckmon Leopardmon, and DoruGreymon head to the Resistance Base. This is what happened after they arrived.

It was the next day, after the battle inside Magnadramon’s chambers, Lotusmon had decided to throw out Percy, Gankoomon and their associates in order to give the big pink dragon some proper rest. As well as repair the door Gankoomon broke down. Though she would have charged him for the repairs, the doctor had heard of the Royal Knight’s reputation as being pretty fierce, and for the sake of her own health, decided to find someone else to fix the door for free, as well as repair the hole in the floor the digimon had made.

Now, Percy, Thor, Kudamon, Bruce, the newly re-digivolved FanBeemon, Nomad, and Roland the Aegiomon were standing in front of GranLocomon, while Gankoomon, Huckmon, Leopardmon, and even DoruGreymon stood across from them, ready to go their separate ways.

“So,” Gankoomon said as he held the Gate Disk Bruce had given him, “This dinky little thing will take us to the Resistance Base, where Blanc and Noir are hiding out now?”

“Uh huh!” Bruce said with a smile, while his glasses were in his shirt pocket still since at the moment, he didn’t need them thanks to the gift he received from Magnadramon. “In fact, I think you’ll like helping out the Resistance! There’s another Royal Knight there named Crusadermon, and even two more of our friends have former royal knights as Partners.”

“Heh, sounds like fun.” Gankoomon said “Would be pretty nice to actually meet Crusadermon, and more importantly, maybe meet that Alphamon guy I’ve heard so much about from DoruGreymon all morning.”

“Oh, I hope Brother recognizes me!” DoruGreymon then said, his red eyes sparkling with joy while his tail wagged, and overall acted like a little kid. While Huckmon and his Digi-Dad were embarrassed at the ultimate level digimon’s reaction, Leopardmon however merely started getting impatient.

“Come on Gankoomon!” he whined as his tail wagged a bit, “I wanna go see the resistance now!”

“We can get goin’ after we see these guys off!” Gankoomon said with a growl, causing Leopardmon to gulp and nod. Satisfied, the red headed digimon then looked back to the other group, and gave them a thumbs up and a smile. “Good luck gettin’ the gear, boys, we’ll be seein’ ya back at the base!”

Each member of Percy’s group then nodded and thanked Gankoomon, even Roland despite how scared he was of the dragon spirit Hinukamuy hovering above the red haired knight at the moment.

“Bye guys!” Bruce then said, “And DoruGreymon, say hi to Megan for me!”

“I will!” DoruGreymon then said, while everyone failed to notice Roland flinch at the young girl’s name as the cavern-bound group entered GranLocomon, who was all rested up and ready to go with Piedmon at the keyboard. Everyone else seemed excited that their quest would soon be coming to an end, while Roland seemed lost in thought as he tried to remember something.

“ _You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray… ”_ he unknowingly sung very quietly to himself as he looked out the window, and also not really paying attention to what was happening around him.

~~000~~

Later on, in the Infirmary of the Resistance Base within ElDradimon, Tina was getting her leg placed in a cast after falling out of a tree in Turtle Valley. While she only climbed it to get Megan down after a prankster of a digimon called Dracmon decided to grab her and hang her up there by her cardigan, Tina did admit that it was kind of fun to actually climb up to help the girl, even if she did get hurt when she lost her own balance and fell. Thankfully Astamon decided to carry her back to base while Megan skipped along with them, though the mobster did feel very guilty about being unable to catch his partner in time, as he had his hands full holding Megan.

Of course, when they arrived back at the base, they heard Beezlemon shouting in anger as some new arrival that looked like a robotic cat man with wings get dragged off to the dungeon by the monstrous looking warden, GranDracmon. Tina really had no idea why or really cared to know what happened as she and her partner politely said hi to the quadrupedal Vampire digimon as Megan headed off to find her partner Dorumon, and moved on.

At the moment however, Tina was in bed, waiting for Valkyrimon to finish talking to Astamon about how much she should stay off her leg, and for how long it needed to be in the cast as well while the Cutemon helped with her recovery and the other digimon that had been injured in the field. Since she, the other girls and the more feminine members of the Resistance were stuck in Turtle Valley, Tina did admit to herself she was jealous that the guys had all the fun helping evacuate villages that had yet to be searched by Lillithmon, and also other random missions involving trouble elsewhere in the ring. At least LadyDevimon and Angewomon had found a way to keep themselves occupied, by relaying information sent to them from someone simple calling themselves “Shortcake of Truth,” who had managed to get their hands on all sorts of info regarding where the wicked ruler of the Ring of Love would send her minions next.

Of course, as something then drew the amber eyed girl out of her thoughts, Tina then turned her attention to the source of the soft snoring she kept hearing.

As Ranamon was sleeping in the bed next to hers, Tina remembered that ever since the blue skinned digimon arrived with Scott Lang when they got to the Ring of Love, that Ant-man’s friend had yet to even wake up. She then wondered if Ranamon would wake up at all, until she felt her D-Watch act up with her Crest of Sincerity glowing like crazy.

“What?” Tina said, as her watch then sent a white beam of light towards Ranamon, causing the aquatic digimon’s body to glow for a moment, before the light faded. Tina watched the sleeping digimon then, and raised an eyebrow when she heard Ranamon mumble before opening her eyes.

“What?” the blue digimon said, looking quite confused at first, until she immediately sat up and looked around in confusion, “Where am I?”

“You’re in the Resistance’s infirmary, where you’ve been asleep for almost a month.” Tina said plainly, “Mr. Lang was getting worried that you’d never wake up at all actually.”

“I see,” Ranamon then said relaxing a bit, and Tina then noticed that the digimon’s voice actually sounded a little younger than her own. “Thank you, my name is Ranamon, what’s yours? Do you know where Scott is?”

“Tina Starling, the Knight of Sincerity according to the Resistance.” the amber eyed girl then said as she smoothed out her pink skirt and smiled, “Though, I haven’t seen Mr. Lang all day… also, I have a friend named Scott as well, so it can be confusing to hear the name and being unsure which one you’re talking about.”

“I see.” Ranamon said with a giggle, “Thanks for letting me know… anyway, I think I better go look for my Scott.” As the digimon tried to get out of bed however, Tina spoke up again.

“Hey now, you _just_ woke up after a while!” Tina said as she grabbed Ranamon’s arm to stop her, “You should take it easy, and at least let Valkyrimon look you over before you go anywhere.”

“Oh alright…” Ranamon sighed before smiling as she tried to look on the bright side, “I guess I’ll surprise him on his next visit!”

~~000~~

Scott Winters meanwhile, was just walking down the halls of the base with White PawnChessmon after the two heard some noise from the library that sounded a lot like Beezlemon screaming in fear before shouting in Rage over something else. As he had also heard that Tina had broken her leg, he was on the way to the Infirmary to see if she was alright when he ended up bumping into someone.

As he stepped back, he then saw that he had bumped into a tall, human looking digimon with a white coat draped over his shoulders and a black body suit, while by the stranger’s side was a small, white robotic dragon in a red cloak, and the hood pulled back to show its head, especially the cat-like ears the teen normally saw on Megan’s partner Dorumon. Scott just stared at the newcomers to the Resistance, especially the red haired man, and the stranger stared back- despite the visor over his eyes, almost as if the two were looking at the other’s inner strength. White PawnChessmon however, just seemed nervous towards the two new digimon as he trembled while also readying his little spear defensively in case he had to fight.

Things were silent and still for a few tense moments, but Scott didn’t back down in the face of potential danger, especially as his body started to glow with a golden orange light.

“Scott Winters, and the little guy with me is White PawnChessmon, my partner.” The teen then said with a polite smile and held his hand out to the stranger, “Nice to meet ya.”

“Gankoomon, and the big guy over me is Hinukamuy.” the taller digimon then said with a smile of his own as he shook Scott’s hand, while jerking his thumb to the dragon-like spirit that manifested over him in response to Scott’s own aura. “Feeling’s mutual. Anyway, the little dragon with me is my son, Huckmon.”

“Hi.” Huckmon then said, before using his claw to shake the little soldier’s hand in return.

“Nice to meet you.” White PawnChessmon then said, and relaxed as it seemed he got to avoid another fight, for now anyway.

Of course, it was at that moment Tandy’s partner Mistymon walked in on the scene, the magic swordsman digimon grumbling over his relationship issues while his partner hung out with King Aldamon elsewhere in the base. As he had nothing else to do until what would most likely be the next Ring, all Mistymon could really do was just hang around, and hope nothing came along to cause Crusadermon to want to kill him. As he didn’t quite recognize Gankoomon as a Royal Knight, he would have simply passed them had he not stopped to look at Hinukamuy in interest.

As Gankoomon stared at the mage however, he hummed a bit before looking very surprised, despite his battle damaged visor hiding his eyes..

“Hey, You’re that Dynasmon guy that used to be in the Royal Knights, right?” Gankoomon then said, and also causing Mistymon to flinch and look back at the Royal Knight with his own hidden eyes.

“Yes, but I don’t think I know who you are, or how you could even tell.” Mistymon then said with suspicion as he crossed his arms, “Care to clarify?”

“Sure thing, name’s Gankoomon, and I’ll admit that I saw your dragon-aura around you. It’s dormant, but I’m surprised it’s still there since you most likely just got back to the land of the living, right?” the rough looking knight then said.

“Huh, so it seems Katherine’s dormant until I figure out a way to re-awaken her…” Mistymon then said, before looking up at the spirit over Gankoomon, “Though, I’ll admit that it usually takes a powerful mage from Witchelny to be able to pull off gaining a spirit familiar. What spells did you cast to get yours?”

“Spells?” Gankoomon asked, before laughing, “Oh, I’m no Witchelnan buddy, I managed to summon Hinukamuy here with sheer willpower after growing up listening to stories about how the Great Dynasmon could kick all sorts of ass with his Breath of Wyvern, though as a fan of yours… I’m kind of glad you confirmed the idea I had about you naming the thing from when I was a rookie, and I made sure Huckmon here learned about you too.”

“So, I was an inspiration to you then?” Mistymon then said, before laughing a bit evilly, “Glad to know that I, an ex-Witchelnan turned Digital Hero could inspire someone to give the finger to how Magic works! Then again, I’ve yet to meet any digimon that’s managed to create life on their own, but on the other hand, even that’s impossible from what I’ve heard back in Witchelny.”

“Actually,” Huckmon then said, tugging a bit on Mistymon’s tabard to get his attention, “Dad used some of his DNA to make me, and I managed to become a Royal Knight named Jesmon too, and also had three spirit familiars: Atho, Por and Rene.”

Mistymon then looked down at the little dragon for a few moments before looking back at Gankoomon, while Scott simply whistled at the info.

“Is that true?” both the magic swordsman and the red haired teen asked, causing Gankoomon to silently nod in confirmation. Mistymon then crouched down to get a better look at Huckmon, and then grabbed his claw to shake it.

“Congratulations Huckmon,” Mistymon then said with a smile, “You are a proven slap in the face to everything I knew about Witchelny’s magic. Even after I stole the most powerful tome there and got banished to the digital world with it.”

“Uh… but isn’t magic just very high level programming code?” Huckmon asked, causing Mistymon to pat the dragon’s head and chuckle.

“Yes, but calling it magic and sorcery is much more fun.” The swordsman said, just before Scott’s partner spoke up.

“Er… wait.” White PawnChessmon then said, “If Huck was a Royal Knight, why is he a Rookie again?”

“Uh….” Gankoomon said as he blushed out of embarrassment, “I don’t know, since Huck won’t tell me.”

As everyone gathered then looked down at the dragon in question, Huckmon immediately gulped as he became nervous.

“Uh well… you see…” Huck said as the robotic dragon actually started to sweat, “I may have kind of… forced myself to evolve into Jesmon, and when I got my butt kicked to Honeyville during my first mission… the defeat sent me back to Rookie?”

“Huck, what have I said about taking shortcuts?” Gankoomon said darkly.

“Don’t take them?” Huck said sadly, while his father nodded in agreement. The dragon then sighed and slipped his hood over his head, revealing that his cloak also had goggles sewn in as well. “What’s my punishment _this_ time?”

“Spending time with Sistermon Blanc until Percy gets back.” Gankoomon said, “And I’m pretty sure she’s looking forward to a tea party with you again.”

“Figures…” Huck said sadly, while mental images of him wearing cute hats and looking less than manly swam through his mind as he also prayed that Blanc wouldn’t make him wear a dress as well. It was at that moment though, that Mistymon heard footsteps heading this way, and after standing up and looking behind him, immediately spoke up.

“It was nice meeting you, but I need to go. Like now.” Mistymon then said quickly as he got moving, “I do not want to go through a repeat of the Aero V-Sukamon incident!”

Of course, as he ran away while Scott, his partner, Gankoomon and Huckmon were left in confusion, they soon saw that Crusadermon was heading towards them as well when she stopped to watch Mistymon flee for his life.

“Still can’t get over that, can he?” she growled as she walked by her fellow Royal Knight and Huckmon, completely ignoring them as the two moved out of her way.

“I know my fellow Knights are scared of me most of the time,” Gankoomon said with a gulp, “But there are just two things I’m not man enough to fight, Grademon, and an angry Dame.”

“Understood.” Scott, Huckmon, and White PawnChessmon all said, while Scott then added, “So, what was Beezlemon going on about earlier?”

“Oh that?” Gankoomon said, “Eh, Leopardmon, another Royal Knight I know, decided to wander off while we were chatting with the boss of this little get together, and accidentally broke the windshield on Behemoth.”

“Leopardmon get thrown in prison?” Scott then asked, unsuprised.

“Eyup.” Gankoomon said, “Never gonna let him live it down either, then again, didn’t expect touching the Leader’s Bike without permission to be worthy of jail time.”

“What can I say?” Scott said with a shrug, “Next to Mervamon, Behemoth is Beezlemon’s favorite thing in the world as far as I can tell. Heard he rode it out of a Volcano he was thrown into once, followed by an eruption as he and Behemoth rolled down the mountain side like a bat out of hell.”

“Kid?” Gankoomon then said with a smirk, “I think I’m gonna enjoy it here, if a guy who survived an eruption and getting a bad ass bike out of it is in charge anyway.”

~~000~~

Elsewhere, Dorumon and Megan were just leaving their room to head to the Primary Village, while the little Tokomon X was curled up on the furry purple fox-dragon‘s back. Of course, the three were soon met with a much larger digimon that vaguely resembled the young girl’s partner. Before either of them could speak however, the red and black dragon immediately decided to use its mouth to pick Dorumon up by the tail, which then caused Tokomon X to cling to the rookie’s fur for dear life while Dorumon himself wriggled around. Megan however, was scared at the blade-horned digimon at first, but once it lowered its head a bit while happily mumbling something with its mouth full, the nine year old girl picked up her courage, jumped a bit and bopped the big dragon on the nose with her hand, and also being careful to avoid the blade making up its horn.

“Leave my partner alone!” Megan then said, causing the bigger digimon to whimper as it gently put down Dorumon.

“Big brother… you’re friend Megan is a bully…” DoruGreymon then whined, causing the girl to look confused, while Dorumon, once he managed to stand up again, looked at the larger digimon in confusion before his eyes widened upon recognizing him.

“Y-You’re back.” Dorumon then sniffed, before his yellow eyes teared up as the little purple digimon used his tiny arms to try and hug the sibling he had been forced to kill, along with himself. In fact, the reunion between the brothers Doru was kind of silly looking as little Dorumon couldn’t even get his arms around DoruGreymon’s neck, especially as Megan’s partner nuzzled the larger dragon happily.

“You’re bigger than me now, but you’re actually back!” Dorumon then said as he cried tears of joy, “Now we can fight alongside each other, just like I hoped we would one day after we died!”

“Oh Big Brother, I’ve waited decades to see you again!” DoruGreymon then said, before starting to cry as well as he shouted, “I’VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!”

Of course, it was at that moment that Tony Stark walked into the scene, and froze as he saw Dorumon- a digimon he considered the bane of his existence ever since their first painful meeting in the Ring of Hope, and also the big red digimon it was hugging. Of course, as Tony saw that the other digimon was huge, and also had sharp teeth along with a blade on its nose, he ended up completely ignoring the fact it was currently crying tears of Joy.

“Nope. Out of here.” Tony then said before anyone could spot him, and turned around before Dorumon’s more frightening friend could try and greet the genius like Dorumon did.

Unfortunately, someone else decided to walk up from behind, and was frozen with fear as he squeaked, and gained Dorumon’s attention. Seeing that his brother’s size managed to distract Ant-Man, the purple digimon quickly took the chance while it lasted, and made a beeline straight towards Scott Lang’s leg as the hero spoke.

“That… Tell me that isn’t Dorumon’s next stage.” he said, looking up at DoruGreymon, instead of down.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, Steve Rogers was currently relaxing by painting inside his room, the work itself depicting himself and a lovely young woman with brown hair, a red hat and a blue and white dress suit walking along the beach during a sunset. Of course, just as he was taking a moment to clean his brushes in a jar of water, he heard Scott Lang shout. Calmly, Cap then put down his brush and went to the door, opened it, and poked his head out into the hall, seeing the large red digimon, Megan holding Tokomon X in her arms and finally Dorumon biting down hard on Scott’s leg.

“Finally got him?” Cap said, completely used to Dorumon’s antics by now while Megan sighed and nodded.

“Yup.” she then said, causing Cap to sigh and leave his room to help pry Dorumon off his fellow Avenger. The dragon fox however, seemed pretty happy to let go, and was actually cheering about the successful chomp, while the large DoruGreymon simply chuckled.

“Er, pardon me for not introducing myself to you Miss Megan, I’m DoruGreymon, Bruce encountered me in Magna Town, and asked me to tell you he said Hi… I had almost forgotten the message upon seeing my big brother again.”

“Does Dorumon always bite at people or digimon?” Cap then asked, not really surprised by the large digimon’s claim of being Dorumon’s sibling, as he could see the resemblance to be clear enough as it was.

“Oh, he’s always been like that before he became Grademon.” DoruGreymon said, “In fact, he only bit people as a sign of recognizing them as fellow heroes or warriors.”

“Why did he stop at Grademon?” Both Cap, and even Scott Lang then asked.

“No fangs, and I looked more humanoid.” Dorumon said, causing Ant-Man to look at Megan, even moving past the giant DoruGreymon to talk to the girl directly instead of shouting.

“Megan,” he said when he finally got close enough, “You need to get Dorumon to Grademon as soon as possible.”

Megan however, said nothing. In fact, she looked pretty uneasy at the idea of her partner digivolving again as she then turned and ran off after dropping little Tokomon X, causing Dorumon to sigh.

“Sorry Little Brother,” he said to DoruGreymon, and also giving Scott a near heart attack at the words, “I need to see if Megan is okay, we can catch up later, alright?”

With that, Dorumon left with little Tokomon X on his back, with Scott soon recovering as he looked nervously at his fellow Avenger, and also DoruGreymon. “I’m sorry, but did I hear him say ‘little’ brother?”

“Yes.” Cap and DoruGreymon said at the same time, only for Ant-man to end up passing out, as there were clearly nothing “little” about the larger digimon.

~~000~~

Elsewhere, in Lilltihmon’s palace, the wicked queen was looking through Piedmon’s room. With Jokermon having yet to return, the evil Demon Lord of Lust needed a back up plan just in case her new butler ended up being killed by Beezlemon. Personally however, she believed that Jokermon would fail in his quest anyway, due to her own stubborn belief that her brother would not let anyone else be near his beloved sister, much less have her all to themselves.

Delusions aside, Lillithmon then growled as it seemed that all of Piedmon’s key chains were missing, as the wicked queen hoped he’d have left one behind by accident so she could use it against him and also the blasted Resistance. She knew full well that the clown’s key chains were once regular digimon, and that he practically had an army on him at all times hidden inside his coat pocket.

Just as she was about to destroy the place out of frustration, the wicked queen then noticed something poking out from beneath a dresser. Hoping it was something extremely deadly, she quickly grabbed it and then looked extremely unamused as she saw it was only a Vilemon key chain. She then threw it against the wall, turning her minion back to normal, and ignored it as it ran out of the room.

“I hate being trolled!” she the shouted, before turning towards the bed, preparing to flip it over to see if anything was hidden underneath.

Then, she saw something glint in the sunlight on the pillow. Quickly, she ran around the side of the bed, before she used her golden claw to carefully pick out what was causing the pillow to shine.Once she picked out each and every shining thread she could find, she soon found that they were actually a few strands of pale gold hair.

“It seems that handsome warrior left me a gift after all.” she said with a smile as she took the hairs and headed out of the room, “I’m sure Datamon down in the basement can use this… after all, I do need a trump card if I am to beat the Resistance, and help dear Beezlemon see he’s fighting the wrong digimon.”

~~000~~

Back on GranLocomon, Percy Black looked out the window, and saw their destination ahead of them. He was quiet as he saw the cave grow closer to them, and he knew full well that whatever challenge was waiting for him, he would have to face it, and be sure to never give up if he was going to claim Laevateinn and Brisingamen.

It was all to save Sheena after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we have a little slice-of-life style thing with Gankoomon and DoruGreymon. Sadly, we don't get to see what exactly happened with Leopardmon before he was dragged off to the dungeon, but on the bright side, we got to see the warden and also Ranamon finally awake.
> 
> Now, I actually extended the bit with Scott and Gankoomon, since originally Mistymon would have gone "Oh shit we're screwed" upon recognizing Gankoomon, but since I later had the idea that Gankoomon might have joined sometime after Dynasmon got killed, I realized that the idea of Gankoomon fanboying a bit by meeting his hero was probably a better idea. Mainly because I hadn't really mentioned when Gankoomon joined the Knights at this point, and figured it'd be a neat thing to do. Now, as for Scott's encounter with Gankoomon leading to the two shaking hands after showing their power? 
> 
> Scott's got the glow of a shonen hero. I felt that moment had to be done... though, I get the feeling if a certain god punching digimon hero shows up in this fic, well, Scott may gain a mentor.
> 
> Anyway, why did I have Mistymon name the dragon aura that shows up in Dynasmon's Breath of Wyvern attack, Katherine? Well, why not? Also, spoilers.~
> 
> As for DoruGreymon's reunion with Dorumon? I wanted cute fluff somewhere in this chapter, and I felt that would be perfect, you know?
> 
> Finally, now, why would Lillithmon want to give some hairs she found to Datamon in exchange for a Trumpcard? Please post your theories in the comments, because I'm not telling.
> 
> Next time on Digivengers: Percy Black and the Equipment of Love.


	23. Knight of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At long last, Percy gains Laevateinn and Brisingamen... 
> 
> Guest Starring Sora and Yolei from the Digimon Adventure universe.

They had finally reached the Southern Peninsula of the Ring of Love, after what seemed like forever since they began their quest. As GranLocomon came to a stop outside of the cavern Ancient Kazemon was said to have hidden herself in, the heroes knew that they were almost done with their journey. All that needed to be done now, was to gain the sword Laevateinn and the armor Brisingamen that were waiting inside.

“There’s a problem.” GranLocomon then said, causing everyone but Piedmon to groan, “There’ seems to be something surrounding the cave.”

“That old friend,” Piedmon then said “Would be the shield Ancient Kazemon placed around the area to protect the Knight’s weapons from thieves. In fact, the only one who can pass through it at all is the one who bears The Crest of Love, or in this case, Percy.”

“I have been wondering what appearance these crests take, ever since Anubismon mentioned them back in Little Witchelny.” Thor then said, “His explanation did not truly have any images accompanying them, unlike yours Piedmon.”

Percy however, then fiddled with his D-Watch a bit, before clearing his throat to get Thor’s attention. Once the Asgardian looked towards the teen however, Percy then showed his grand uncle the red, heart-shaped crest on the watch’s screen.

“This, is the Crest of Love, and my ticket in there.” Percy then said, “In fact, each of us kids managed to get one really. Sheena’s got the Crest of Hope, Scott Winters has Courage, his sister Jean has Friendship… for some reason, Starling’s got Sincerity, Esteban has Knowledge- even if he doesn’t really know how to use it, Tandy’s got Purity, Megan has Light, and Bruce? Why don’t you tell Thor your crest, or well, show him.”

“Okay.” the young boy said, before tapping the screen and revealing the lavender crest he had, which to Thor looked sort of like a rose that was losing a petal. “Mine’s the Crest of Kindness.”

“Fitting.” Thor then said, and wondered if the other crests were in fact certain traits of the children who held them, as Percy did truly care for his family, even in spite of Loki’s reputation based on how the boy himself had interacted with the Trickster. “However, if Sheena is the ‘Knight of Hope’ and is in Lillithmon’s grasp, then I believe Percy needs to gain his weapons before we ‘lose Hope’ for good.”

The terrible joke earned Thor several glares, as each person then gave their opinion, except for Piedmon, who simply picked up a pebble that fell from Percy’s boot tread off of the floor and flicked it at the Asgardian’s forehead.

“That was in right poor taste.” Percy said, as he looked pretty embarrassed by the attempt at humor.

“Terrible.” said Kudamon.

“It’s not very funny.” Bruce said really unsure what else to say.

“That sucked dude.” FanBeemon said.

“You’re not… very good at jokes, are you Thor?” Roland asked, before laughing nervously.

“No comment.” GranLocomon then said, the train itself getting in on the group judgement.

“Okay, Thor’s not allowed to make puns anymore.” Nomad said last, which then led to everyone else nodding in agreement. Thor however, merely took the criticism with silent grace, and also thankful his helmet helped deflect the pebble, before becoming a bit more serious as he looked at Percy.

“So, you will be going in alone with only Kudamon then?” he asked, causing the teen to nod, before Nomad whistled. As everyone looked at the cloaked stranger, they saw he was holding up a pin depicting Percy’s crest.

“Okay, I only have one of these on me, so… if anyone wants to in with the kid, well, now’s the time to decide who.” the cloaked man then said, with Thor and Percy eyeing him with suspicion over the convenient timing.

“I’ll take Nomad with me.” Percy said, “No offense, but I don’t think I’d trust you on the train with the others, while me, Kudamon and someone else go in to grab the gear.”

“Oh don’t worry,” Piedmon said with a smile, “If Nomad decides to try and hi-jack GranLocomon, well… I’ll simply have to use one of the more dangerous spells I learned back in Witchelny. The kind best only used for emergencies, or when someone really, really deserves getting hit with enough magical force to equal GranLocomon moving at his highest speed… mach 20, I think? In any case, digimon hit by GranLocomon at that speed would more likely have their data scattered all over the digital world, rather than going straight to Anubismon.”

“See?” Nomad then said to Percy, while also looking at Piedmon very nervously, “I think you don’t have anything to worry about… unlike me.”

“I guess…” Percy said, “So, since Nomad kind of just refused to volunteer, who wants to go instead?”

“I will go.” Thor then said, “We do not know what lies within Ancient Kazemon’s cavern, and therefore, we do not know if Kudamon will be enough.” After the Asgardian spoke however, Nomad simply gulped as he kept thinking about Piedmon’s threat, and quickly pinned the crest to Thor’s cape- specifically the right shoulder. With that done, Thor, Percy, and Kudamon left the train once the doors opened, and passed through the shield without a problem.

Once GranLocomon’s doors shut again, Roland the Aegiomon then decided to speak up.

“So… what are we going to do while they’re inside?”

“Anyone got a deck of cards?” Nomad said, “We could probably play Poker or something, maybe teach Bruce the game in case he has to play it later in life or something, never know what’ll happen, right?”

“I’ll be the dealer.” Piedmon said as he pulled a deck out of the frill on his left sleeve, and also conjured up a a green felt-topped table with poker chips and five chairs. In fact, once everyone had sat down, Piedmon quickly smiled as he shuffled the deck, and looked like he had quite a large amount of experience playing the game as he dealt the cards.

“Five cards per hand, jokers wild.” The clown then said, and started the game.

~~000~~

Outside the train, Thor and Kudamon both shuddered as they passed through the field, with Thor thankful that the pin actually worked, while Kudamon was thankful for his small size allowing him to be considered part of Percy’s body.

“I did not expect it to be cold when we passed through.” Thor said as he pulled his cape a little closer to his body, while Percy looked at him in confusion.

“Felt fine to me.” the teen said, and while Thor was about to comment, he then remembered that Percy was still a quarter frost giant, and assumed that he had a higher resistance to cold weather than most people, be they Asgardian or Human. The trio then moved forward, entering the cave and moving as far as they could within it, as they both noticed the tunnel they walked through was actually getting darker the further they were from the entrance.

“Well, now I feel like a twit for not yet learning a light spell from Gramps.” Percy said, “Would be pretty useful right now.”

“Can you even learn new magic without Loki nearby?” Thor asked, while moving slower through the dark cavern in order to avoid stumbling over something, or worse, setting off a trap.

“Well, whenever he’s either engaged with his mischief, or needing to stay away from me and mum for a while, he would visit me in my dreams and we would just practice new spells there, since if he could teach me that way, then when I mastered a spell or skill in the dream, I’d be able to do a spell as easily as a fish knows how to swim.” Percy said, “In fact, he’s been able to contact me in the digital world as well, so I’ve been able to add a few fun tricks, and Gramps also managed to meet Kudamon as well.”

“An odd way of teaching, I assume.” Thor said, as he thought about his brother, “However, Loki has always been a bit odd ever since he learned how to shape shift.”

“Yeah… sometimes when he does visit while I’m awake, he tends to look like a woman.” Percy then said with a shrug, “I’ve gotten used to it though, and there’s always the weirder forms he’d take, like a magpie that flew to my window when I was seven back in Cardiff.”

“Has he ever turned into a mare around you or your family?” Thor asked, mainly out of curiosity.

“Actually, I think he’s been turned off of that ever since Sleipnir was born.” Percy said as he did his best to remember if he ever did see Loki in that form, while Thor simply coughed and got the very odd feeling that somehow, Loki was actually aware of their chat, and also fuming with rage.

Suddenly, Thor and Percy stopped in their tracks as they entered a chamber, which then lit up on its own as fiery torches burning in different colors flared to life on the walls. As the prepared for a fight, they were then greeted by a gust of wind coming from behind them, causing them to turn to face the tunnel they traveled through and seeing nothing. Of course, when they turned around once again after both they and Kudamon shrugged, they soon saw someone they definitely knew wasn’t in the center of the chamber before.

The stranger that had arrived, looked like a woman in a skimpy white bodysuit with green accents that exposed her belly, thighs, elbows, fingers and shoulders along with about fifty percent of her chest, as some of the material actually went from her neck and down into her cleavage as well. Her outfit also had a loin cloth in front, as well as white boots with bird-feet, and gold wing ornaments on the back of her ankles, over the knees and on the outer thigh of each boot. Hovering over each arm were odd, wing-like shields that had three layers: the bottom blue, the middle a dark green, and the top being a more yellowish green with gold accents and a small pair of gold wings. Finally, the woman’s helmet managed to cover her entire face, with blue lenses covering her eyes, a purple section over her nose and mouth while the sides were white, and the top of the helmet was more like hair or feathers that started off red and ended up violet and finally topped with a bird like ornament made of gold.

Thor and Percy then noticed the rapier hanging by her side, and that she was also carrying what looked like some envelopes, a few magazines and at least nine newspapers in her hands.

“Oh, uh… hi there?” she then said as she gave an awkward wave of her hand and also looking quite surprised to have guests at all. “I’m Ancient Kazemon, and you are… who exactly?”

“I’m Percy Black, and the little guy on my shoulders is my partner, Kudamon.” the teen then said, before moving on to the Asgardian hero, “The big guy is my grand uncle, Thor.”

“Okay then.” the previous ruler of the Ring then said, “I’m guessing that since you three are here, that means you got through the fence, right? So, which one of you is the Knight?”

“That’d be me.” Percy said, stepping forward and giving an awkward bow, while the strange digimon seemed to cringe a bit now that she had a better look at the teen.

“Geeze, you look like hell.” she said, causing Percy to roll his eyes.

“Yeah, a near death experience and only one set of clothes with ya can do that.” he said dryly, “Sides, at least I’ve got a few scars and a rock merged with my hand from the experience, and well, didn’t end up losing an arm or something instead.”

Ancient Kazemon nodded as she noted the boy did have a point, before she looked at the Asgardian, examining him before laying eyes on the hammer he held and the pin on his cape for a moment, before going back to Mjolnir. “Tiny hammer for a big man.“

“Small, Mjolnir may be, but still powerful when it matters.” Thor said with a smile, while Percy groaned.

“Stone the crows, this can’t be happening.” he muttered as he covered part of his face with his gem-studded left hand as he quickly realized that they were starting to flirt. Sensing his partner’s annoyance however, Kudamon decided to immediately speak up and get things back on track.

“Ancient Kazemon, about Laevateinn and Brisingamen. What must be done to obtain them?”

Ancient Kazemon however, merely looked at the bullet weasel, and actually flew closer to Percy in order to get a better look while not even dropping her mail. “Hey… aren’t you the digimon that killed Medieval Dukemon last year?”

“How do you even know that after being in a cave for who knows how long!?” Kudamon then snapped, while Ancient Kazemon chuckled.

“I am related to the element of the wind, so I tend to know what people say in the Ring of Love.” she said to sound a bit dramatic, before giving the actual reason, “That, and the digimon delivering my mail, Sunflowmon likes to gossip. I mean, the mailbox is right next to the Entrance after all.”

Percy, Thor, and Kudamon looked confused, while the Asgardian and the teen looked at each other and silently tried to remember if either of them had even seen a mailbox on their way in. As Ancient Kazemon realized her mistake, she then sighed.

“You guys used the back door, didn’t you?” she then said, “I mean, I did see a GranLocomon pull up at the back just after Sunflowmon and I started gossiping, but since the other entrance is on the side, I guess you guys didn’t even see the tunnel leading that way on your way in, did you?”

“No?” Thor said, “It was after all, rather dark in that tunnel.”

“Yeah… the automatic torches broke last week and I can’t really get a repair guy out here until Lillithmon’s taken care of…” Ancient Kazemon then said. Of course, as Percy then remembered they were there for a reason, he then decided to get back to business.

“So, about the trials or whatever I need to do to get the bloody gear I came for?” he then said in annoyance, causing the ancient digimon to take a moment for things to register before pointing towards the back wall after shifting a bit to keep from dropping her mail. There, the group saw a very lifelike carving of a goat’s head with gigantic horns, a gorget with digicode on it, a metal plate going down to its nose, and finally a large beard and bell. In front of the carving were two stones, one white the other black, resting in a bowl on top of a pedestal.

“So, to get to the next chamber, you’re going to have to solve a little riddle.” she said before clearing her throat, _“When Light and Shadow are joined, set us in the eyes of the goat that faces the high sun.”_

“I can’t believe you’re using that one.” Percy said, not even taking a moment to think it over as he headed towards the carving, picked up the stones, and simply put them inside the eyes of the goat. Immediately, the carving rose up to reveal the hidden passage way, and the teen just walked on through followed by Thor and Ancient Kazemon.  
“Oh come on!” the guardian then said as she whined a little, “How did you figure it out?”

“Ma’am, that ‘riddle’ is a quote from the _Castle of Cagliostro._ ” Percy said, “My favorite movie of all time, and one I’ve seen about… one thousand, two hundred and forty seven times. I’ve actually got every scene and line memorized.”

“Strange as that obsession may be…” Thor said, “It did manage to get us through the trial.”

In the next chamber- once it lit up, the group were immediately met with a large pink and gray bunny with clawed gloves on its forepaws, green eyes, and a blue bandanna on its neck. The rabbit digimon, in fact, was in the middle of eating a carrot when it spotted the group, and quickly dashed away to a side area with a coffee table, a couch, and surprisingly enough- a smoothie machine.

“Is catching that rabbit the next challenge?” Thor asked as he smiled a bit, mainly because he found the digimon to be adorable.

“Nah, that’s just Rabbitmon, my roommate. She just pops in from the basement sometimes.” Ancient Kazemon said, “The real trial has kind of only been around for a few months, and involves fighting Zero.”

“Zero?” both Thor and Percy then asked, while Kudamon actually started twitching and muttering under his breath as the bullet weasel seemed to be having a conniption. Before Percy could ask what was up however, a voice spoke up from across the room where Rabbitmon had dashed too, drawing everyone’s attention to what seemed to be a kitchenette complete with a fridge, oven, stove, sinks with running water, and a dishwasher.

“Hey Iris?” the voice said from behind the open fridge door, “I think we’re out of milk!” The door then shut, and the owner was soon revealed to be what looked like a knightly blue and white humanoid dragon with a pink interior to his cape-like wings, a large golden V on his chest, sliver bracelets on his wrists with blue lights running along the center of the bands, while also having an elongated section with red accents going up his forearms. In fact, as the digimon wore blue and gold gloves that exposed his white fingers, the bracelets looked a bit much. As it walked over to the group, both Thor and Percy noted the digimon’s red eyes and the line of blue lights on his neck and the collar on his armor, but the first to actually speak to the newcomer was Kudamon.

If speaking was defined as screaming obscenities at someone, anyway.

“ULFORCE VEEDRAMON HOW THE FUCKING HELL DID YOU EVEN GET IN HERE WHEN ONLY THOSE WITH A CREST OF LOVE ON THEM CAN EVEN GET THROUGH THE FUCKING SHIELD!?” the bullet weasel screamed, causing the digimon, apparently a Royal Knight with how familiar Kudamon was with him, or at least to Thor the one Kudamon told him he hated more than Leopardmon.

“Hello Sleipmon…” Ulforce Veedramon groaned, “I see you still won’t call me Zero. And you’ve apparently been partnered with one of the human kids that’s supposed to come and save our world when we’re pretty much screwed.”

“Yeah…” Ancient Kazemon then said after putting her mail on the table, “Zero kind of ended up falling from the sky outside the shield, made a hole in the ground… and somehow managed to end up breaking through the floor. So, he’s stuck here until someone claims Laevateinn and Brisingamen. Though, I do like how he nicknamed me Iris! Soooo much easier to say than Ancient Kazemon all the time!”

“Of course he did…” Kudamon said, while Thor seemed to grin at the idea of facing a Royal Knight in battle. Percy then noticed the Asgardian’s expression, and looked towards Ancient Kazemon.

“Hey, is it okay if I have Thor handle the fight as my proxy?” Percy said, “I’m still just a kid, so… I really don’t think I could handle fighting someone like Zero on my own, even with Kudamon’s help.”

The fact he managed to beat a mystical clown and mega level digimon without Kudamon’s help being kept to himself for now, Ancient Kazemon simply shrugged at the suggestion.

“Well, you three are the first people to get by the field without messing with the laws of physics, so eh, don’t see why not.”

“Okay Thor, he’s all yours.” Percy said as he, Kudamon, and their host went towards the couch to sit down, have a smoothie, and watch the show. Thor then grinned wider, gripping Mjolnir tightly as he faced Zero the Ulforce Veedramon, who in turn felt a chill go down his spine.

“Hopefully, this battle will be more of a challenge than the last I’ve had in the Digital World.” Thor said, while the much larger digimon readied for battle, with his left bracelet soon generating a shield, and his right creating an energy saber.

“Heh, I’ve got a victory rating of 100%!” Zero then said, “However, I don’t think fighting a human would be very fair.”

Thor said nothing, simply throwing Mjolnir and holding on tightly as he flew towards the Royal Knight, who immediately blocked with his shield. However, he did not expect the force of impact, as Zero was then sent flying across the room, and hitting the wall of the Kitchenette.

“Okay, not human.” Zero then said under his breath, “Even my old buddy Taichi wasn’t this strong…”

Thor however, never heard him, as he was striking away at the shield, the energy actually electrically charging up Mjolnir and starting to short out Zero’s defense. The Royal Knight however, managed to stab through Thor’s cape with his saber, and even pushed the little warrior off as the digimon then stood up, almost preparing to charge and strike as he spread his wings wide.

Zero however, instead started to flee, flying around the chamber as he was pursued by Thor.

~~000~~

Back in GranLocomon, Thor’s laughter during the battle managed to reach the others waiting for them, their poker game having taken an interesting turn with Bruce actually having a good amount of chips available to bet, while Roland, Nomad, and FanBeemon were struggling.

“Sounds like Thor found a friend to play with.” Nomad then said, causing the others to nod in agreement. Of course, as Roland and Nomad showed their hands, with Roland losing, FanBeemon decided to fold as Bruce revealed his own hand.

“Um… I gotta an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and Ten… all hearts.” he said, “Is that good?”

“Oh come on!” both Nomad and Roland said as they lost another hand, with Nomad then adding, “A Royal Flush? _Seriously?_ Nothing can beat that!”

“Bruce apparently, has quite a bit of luck for a beginner.” Piedmon said as he took up the cards, shuffled the deck again and began dealing the next hand, “Or a very, very good poker face.”

~~000~~

Back inside the cave however, after much battling and running, Zero was now on the floor, Mjolnir pinning him down and stuck on his back as Thor stood in front of him with a smile. While the royal knight was battered beaten with dented armor, bruised wings and legs and even a broken horn, Thor on the other hand only lost his helmet during the battle, his hair becoming a bit disheveled and the hole in his cape from when Zero managed to stab him.

“Have mercy?” Zero asked, “Because I seriously surrender right now.”

Thor simply held out his hand, calling Mjolnir to it and letting the Royal Knight go. As the Asgardian lowered the hammer and held out his other hand once Zero managed to stand up. Of course, after a quick flash of light, the Royal Knight then healed himself up completely, and even restored his broken horn back to normal.

“Man, am I glad I have the Ulforce to heal up…” Zero muttered to himself as he stretched a bit and arched his back. Of course, as he then noticed Thor holding his hand out to him, the Royal Knight blinked for a bit as he wondered what was up.

“That was an excellent warm up. You have my thanks, friend Zero.” Thor then said, causing the Royal Knight to look surprised as he awkwardly shook the smaller warrior’s hand. “I cannot wait to introduce you to my friend Hulk when we find him. He may want to spar with you as well.”

“Uh… you’re welcome?” Zero said, while mentally kicking himself for the loss, “Also, what’s a Hulk?”

“A big green human with a short temper that actually makes him tougher the more brassed off he gets.” Percy said, and sighed when it seemed no one knew what he meant. “He gets stronger when he gets angrier.”

“Fun.” Zero then said before giving a nervous laugh, “Looking forward to it.”

“So Ancient Kazemon,” Percy said, only to be interrupted by the digimon.

“Please, call me Iris like Zero does. It’s less of a hassle, you know?”

“Uh… right… _Iris_ then.” Percy said, “Anyway, what’s next?”

“Well, I really couldn’t think of a Third trial, so I guess it’s time to show you the gear.” the strange minded guardian said as she got up, and led Percy, Thor and Zero to a wall where a trio of doors were located. She then opened one, revealing a room with fashion magazines scattered all over the floor, and a poster on the wall showing a blond girl that seemed to be a couple of years older than Percy in a red bikini with a bomb at her feet and the words “Sexy Dynamite” over the pink background. Ancient Kazemon immediately blushed however, and slammed the door shut and giggled.

“Uh… you were not supposed to see that.” she said, before going to the next door.

“Too late.” Percy said with a smirk, while Kudamon said nothing, apparently blushing from embarrassment after seeing the poster as the little bullet weasel tried to hide his face with his tiny paws. Thor and Zero however, only sighed and agreed to never speak of the poster again. This was followed by the guardian and former ruler of the Ring of Love opening the second door, which revealed a room filled with sketches of battles past, a picture young boy with wild brown hair, a cape, goggles and what seemed to be an odd looking silver D-Watch and finally a large poster of a blue , slightly beastly digimon in bulky gold armor along with the words written on it: “To Zeromaru from Magnamon, XOXO.”

Zeromaru however, immediately blushed and slammed the door shut as his friend moved on to a third and final door, the second room apparently having been his. Even if it was a mystery how all that stuff got there if he had been stuck in the cave for months.

Thankfully, the last door opened showed a mostly empty room, except for a suit of red, black and gold armor as well as a beautifully crafted longsword with a shining, rose colored blade, the Crest of Love engraved on the white, wing-like cross guard, and the pommel made to look like the head of a white jay bird.

“This is only for Percy to do, he’s the knight, so he has to check to see if he’s worthy of the gear.” Ancient Kazemon then said, with the teen silently going in and picking up the blade and at first, things seemed to be fine.

Unfortunately, things immediately took a turn for the worse as Percy then cringed in pain and let out a gasp, before the blade and armor flashed brightly enough to blind those outside the room. Once their vision cleared, there was a thick sheet of ice blocking the doorway that blurred the image of Percy and Kudamon on the other side.

“What is this!?” Thor then asked, causing the equipment’s guardian to step back and hold her hands up defensively.

“I swear, I did _not_ know this would happen!” she then said, “When I asked that guy from Witchelny to make me some stuff that ‘only those with a heart so cold it burns’ could wield, I was going for something metaphorical not _literal!_ ”

“But they may still freeze to death, before the ice could thaw… if it even can!” Thor said, preparing to use Mjolnir to try and break the teen and his partner out of their prison. However, Zero stopped the Asgardian’s arm before he could even begin to swing.

“Thor, you may not want to do that… since it looks like something weird is going on, and I got a feeling that if we just smash our way in, Percy and Sleip could end up in trouble.” Zero then said, before pointing to the ice and causing Thor to see something emitting a light within that wasn’t there before.

“What is that?” Thor then asked, but as he received no answer, and worried that whatever it was might harm Percy if he tried anything, was forced to wait for the outcome… however long it would take.

~~000~~

Percy could feel himself floating, his memory feeling a bit fuzzy as he couldn’t quite remember what he was doing. As things became clearer though, especially as he heard something call his name, he opened his eyes, and sat up.

“What the bloody hell?” he said, looking around to see that he was no longer in the cave, or even holding the either of the weapons he had gone there to claim. Now, he was on the shore of an unfamiliar lake, surrounded by floating ice crystals lit by flames inside them that oddly, didn’t even cause them to melt.

“Percy!” he heard the voice that woke him up say again, and noted that it sounded not only sounded like it was at that correct tone where it was impossible to tell if it was a man or a woman’s, but also coming from somewhere pretty close. As he finally looked up however, he saw not his partner Kudamon, who he now realized wasn’t even around his shoulders, but a giant, red, six legged robotic centuar with a chestplate that looked like a dog’s head to the teen, as well as its flanks and loin cloth decorated by an odd blue symbol that looked like either to be a fancy, if backwards “S”, or something else Percy couldn’t recognize at the moment. The centuar’s head of course, looked like that of a horse, with gold decorations on the side looking like a helmet fit for an Asgardian, as well as a long, purple mane. While the digimon’s tail was as blue as the symbols on its body, Percy also noticed a pair of what seemed to be golden wings, or something meant to represent them since they looked pretty weird to the teen, and also a giant crossbow attached to its left arm, while on its right was a large shield that was also holding the digimon’s arrows as a handy quiver.

As Percy looked into the digimon’s golden eyes however, he immediately figured out who it was.

“Kudamon?” Percy said, and getting a nod from the giant digimon, got up and stepped back. “So, this is how you looked as Sleipmon then?”

“Yes.” said Sleipmon, “However, it seems this place is one where I can be my old self. Yet, I do not know where this is, or how we got here.”

“We’re in the same boat then.” Percy said as he crossed his arms, and also noticing his clothes were back to being untattered in this weird place, though he still had that crystal in his hand. “Last I remember, I was holding the sword, before feeling a lot of pain… so I wonder what’s going on? Another trial?”

 _“Hello? Are you just going to keep ignoring us?”_ Percy then heard a voice say behind him, and as he turned, saw two girls that he was pretty sure were not there before, along with two digimon. One of the girls looked like a high schooler in a nice looking uniform. There was red ribbon tied into a bow on her white shirt, a gray skirt, a pair of white socks and loafers, while she also had fiery red hair, reddish brown eyes, and a warm smile. The digimon closest to her was about as big as Sleipmon, and looked like a four winged, golden bird with black talons and belly, peacock-like feathers for a tail along with long single feathers that seemed more loose and flowing, as well as golden rings on its legs, a gold mask, and a fiery crest of feathers starting behind said mask and also going down its spine. It stood in place behind the high school girl, looking at Percy and his partner with its blue eyes.

The other girl however, was most likely the one that talked to him, as she seemed to be about his age, and looked like an old timey air-pilot with a pair of large glasses instead of goggles, and long lavender hair and eyes. Next to her was another bird digimon, a much smaller one that resembled an eagle with a feather sticking out of a headband. As she had her hands on her hips while she leaned forward and also happened to be glaring at him while tapping her foot, all Percy could do was blink.

“Uh… I’m pretty sure you two weren’t there before.” he said, causing the pilot girl to stumble a bit, while the other one laughed. “In fact, who _are_ you two anyway?”

“My name is Sora Takenouchi.” said the red head, “And my partner, Phoenixmon is one of my best friends in the world.”

“I’m Yolei Inoue.” said the pilot, before picking up the smaller bird. “This is my partner, Hawkmon.”

“Greetings.” Hawkmon said while looking a bit annoyed as he was held up by his partner like a stuffed animal.

“Nice to meet you!” said Phoenixmon, who was apparently female from the sound of her voice, and Percy could see that she also had sharp teeth in her beak.

“Percy Black and my partner standing there behind me is Sleipmon.” the teenage boy then said to return the introduction, “Though, normally he’s just a bullet weasel that hangs off my shoulders named Kudamon.”

“Oh wow, that sounds adorable!” Yolei then said, causing Sleipmon to snort and cross his arms.

“I do not ‘do’ _adorable._ ” he said, “I am a Royal Knight, and I _do_ have a reputation to uphold.”

“Wow, he’s certainly rude…” Yolei then said flatly, while Sora sighed and shook her head, with Yolei apparently having switched gears on what she thought about a person more than once. At least, as far as Percy could tell anyway.

“Well, you’d be in a bad mood too if you ran into an arse you used to work with.” Percy then said, “Anyway, can either of you tell me where the bloody hell we are? Cause I have equipment to gain, a girl to rescue, and then an adventure to save the digital world to get back to.”

“Honestly…. neither of us have a clue.” Sora said, “In fact, the only thing I know me and Yolei have in common, besides our partners being birds, is that we both had something to do with the Crest of Love.”

“You mean this?” Percy said as he held out his D-Watch, and showing the red crest on its screen.

“Oh wow, is that your digivice?” Sora asked, before both girls pulled their own out, with the high schooler’s looking like an old V-pet, and the pilot girl’s looking sort of like a cheap, red and white toy walkie-talkie.

“His seems a bit cooler than ours though…” Yolei said out of jealousy. Of course, Percy ignored it, as he noticed that the screens on their devices were blank.

“So, where are your crests then?” he asked, watching as the pilot pulled out a weird looking egg that looked half broken, the crest upside down in blue instead of red, and having metal wings on the sides. As for Sora, her chest simply glowed with a soft, red light with the crest appearing on her shirt just below the ribbon. While Percy tried not to stare for too long at the older girl’s chest, he would end up failing as horomones kicked in while trying to just focus on the crest.

“The original tag my crest was carried in was destroyed when my friends and I battled Apocalymon.” Sora then explained and thankfully drawing Percy back to paying attention to what she was saying rather than something else, “While the digimental Yolei has helps armor evolve her partner.”

“So…” Yolei then said as she moved a bit closer to Percy, and giving him a sly smile, “Are you the leader of your team?”

“Nope.” Percy said, pushing Yolei away as a big hint to respect his personal space, “Our leader is a girl named Sheena, who has the Crest of Hope on her…unfortunately, she’s also the girl I want to rescue.”

“Crest of Hope?” Sora said rather surprised, “I figured that if you weren’t the leader, it’d be whoever had the Crest of Courage like my group leader was.”

“Nah, Courage is in the hands of a bloke named Scott Winters. He literally glows when he shows his courage though while his twin sister however…. is a spooky girl named Jean who has the Crest of Friendship.” Percy said, causing the two girls to just look at each other and shrug before moving on.

“So, what’s your adventure been like?” Sora then asked, “And how did you earn your crest?”

And so, Percy decided to catch them up on what all he had been through, and also explaining things to them about his world, as the two girls and their partners had apparently come from one with no superheroes in it, as well as actual magic, Asgardians, or anything else he was more used to. While the explanation about his grandfather was at first unbelievable to the two girls, they soon changed their minds when he showed them his Jotun Mode, and also explained the trial he went through in the tunnel of Regrets.

“You… certainly earned the Crest of Love if you managed to deal with stopping your grandpa causing the end of the world… again apparently.” Sora then said with a nervous laugh, “And you also seem to really care about your friends.”

“Eh…. kind of at odds with the Spaniard holding the Crest of Knowledge.” Percy then said, “The bugger misuses his knowledge to antagonize me, and as far as I know, hasn’t figured out he’s been a complete wanker since we left File Island.”

“Well, all groups have their problems.” Sora said, “For example, my friend Tai and my boyfriend, Matt would usually butt heads whenever Tai wanted to do something stupid, or when both were just being stubborn, usually about Matt’s brother TK. But, even then it all worked out.”

“Yeah, and I would usually argue with my team’s leader, Davis all the time!” Yolei then said, “But, my boyfriend Ken and I got along well after he was no longer evil! In fact, I think you’re pretty good on the Love front!”

“Right….” Percy said, starting to wonder if Yolei was actually delusional and kind of clueless about what the crest she was supposed to represent actually meant. Then again, since her digimental had it as the wrong color, it could have been a sign towards the truth.

“Percy,” Sora then said, both deciding to ignore Yolei as she started blathering about her love life, “Have you ever gotten overprotective, or just refused to care about anything?”

“Not as far as I know.” Percy said, “In fact… I’ve managed to see already what too much love can do, and it is just about as bad as giving nothing but hatred towards a person.”

“Then you seem to be doing a better job of keeping things in balance for your crest than I did when I was a kid.” Sora said, “Then again, you better keep that balance up Percy, otherwise… your crest could end up corrupting and cause your partner to go crazy when you force it to digivolve.”

“Sounds like experience there.” Percy noted, while Sora became quite solemn.

“My friend Tai, he had the Crest of Courage and well, when he overworked his partner Agumon to the point he forced it to Ultimate level… he got a monster that was out of control named Skull Greymon. After his partner turned back into a Koromon, he became so scared to push his partner too hard again, that he couldn’t even digivolve it into champion until he had an epiphany.”

Percy nodded, accepting the warning and decided to ask a question of his own. “So, how did you two figure out what your crest even meant?”

“Well, at first, I didn’t want anything to do with Biyomon, my partner’s rookie form, when my journey started.” Sora admitted out of embarrassment, “But, as time went on, I grew attached to her, and I ended up being over protective when she tried to fight after she was badly hurt. I then realized I was acting like my mother when I hurt my leg once and tried to play soccer anyway despite her telling me not to, and it was then that I realized I needed to balance out how much I tried to take care of everyone, and make sure I didn’t become apathetic again.”

“I however, managed to love my darling Ken even before I found out he was our enemy, and forgave him when he was no longer the Digimon Emperor!” Yolei cooed, while also acting embarrassingly obsessed with her apparent boyfriend.

“She… really doesn’t get it, does she?” Sleipmon said as he gave a flat look towards the lavender haired girl.

“Nope.” Percy said while sharing Sleipmon’s expression, “In fact, she sounds more like a fangirl or a stalker to me.”

“She’ll figure it out.” Sora said as she gave an embarrassed chuckle, “I hope.”

“So… what now?” Percy asked as he went back to ignoring Yolei.

“Now?” Sora said with a smile. “You wake up.”

~~000~~

While Thor waited in the waking world, he had kept close watch on the ice blocking his way to Percy and Kudamon. In fact, he was now sitting on the ground, rubbing Rabbitmon’s belly and still keeping watch. It had been hours since the Ice first appeared, and over time, the Asgardian was able to see his grand nephew more clearly, as well as barely make out what had been giving off the light.

However, when he looked up to check again, he was surprised to see that the source of light was an object that looked like a heart, half frozen and half burning, yet neither side affected the other. When Zero had walked over to see how Thor was doing, he was surprised to see the object as well.

“Is…. that Percy’s heart or something?” the Royal Knight then asked, getting Ancient Kazemon’s attention as she looked up from her magazine.

“Beats me!” she said with a shrug, before going back to reading.

Immediately afterward however, the ice shattered apart as the heart went back into Percy’s body, followed by another flash of light. Once it cleared though, the teen was supporting himself on the table with one hand, and shaking his head as he slowly became more aware of the world. Of course, he was now wearing a new outfit, complete with a new pink shirt, a black and gold trench coat decorated with red embroidered rose petals below the waist and going down to the very bottom of his coat. He also wore a gold circlet with both small wings and horns, black boots, new full gloves made of black leather with the left one showing the crystal still stuck in his hand, jeans and finally gold metal accents throughout the whole thing that gave a look that was a mix between normal Asgardian garb and ordinary human clothes. On his back, was the longsword Laevateinn, and as he finally examined himself and turned around, Thor could see that emblazoned on the boy’s back was a golden version of his crest, though the teen’s face was still scarred as the armor only altered his clothes, not heal his old wounds.

“So, how do I look?” Percy then said with a grin, while Kudamon rested in his usual spot, and looked quite content.

“Like an Asgardian.” Thor answered with a smile, only to be suddenly yanked away by Zero and spun around as the Royal Knight chanted “Victory Dance!” and skipped around in a circle with his arm hooked around Thor’s.

“He’s… always been like that.” Kudamon groaned and tried to use his tiny paws to avert his gaze. “Probably believes he’s still from another timeline too.”

“I told you I really am from another Timeline!” Zero then said, stopping the dance long enough for Thor to slip away. Though the Asgardian had experience with alternate time lines himself, and believed Zero’s claim as the Royal Knight and the blond warrior talked while waiting for Percy to thaw, he said nothing as he was busy trying to get his bearings after the surprise ‘victory dance’.

“Hey,” Ancient Kazemon then said cheerfully before placing her hand on Percy’s shoulder. “Congrats on becoming a Full Fledged Knight of Love!”

What followed before Percy even had a chance to thank the digimon, was a red light surrounding the white haired teen, and then feeling power surge through him for a moment before the light faded.

“So, shall we get going?” Kudamon said once the moment passed, “We do need to return to base, and prepare to battle Lillithmon.”

“Very true.” Thor said, while walking towards Percy and also picking up Rabbitmon off the ground.

“Hey, I get to leave now too since you got your stuff.” Zero said as his red eyes sparkled with joy, “Which means I can go back to fighting bad guys, and also go back to finding the other Royal Knights!”

“I think there are a couple back with the Resistance.” Percy said, causing Zero to actually squeal with glee as he ran off to pack his stuff at high speed.

“I think I’ll help out too.” Ancient Kazemon then said as Zero overheard and went to pack her things too, “I’ve always wanted to travel, and since I’m not in charge of the Ring anymore, I can totally do that now without having to worry about the place blowing up!”

Without another word, the group then headed out of the cave, the shield that had been erected having faded once Percy claimed the sword and armor he went there for in the first place. As the heroes reached GranLocomon, and saw the doors open however, the feeling of success they had soon faded as they saw Nomad and Bruce facing off in a game of poker, with the cloaked stranger more frustrated than anything else, while the Knight of Kindness looked more confused than anything else.

“Ha!” Nomad then said as he laid out his hand, “Three Queens and a pair of fives, beat that, Bruce!”

“Um…” Bruce said as he showed his own hand, “I got another Royal Flush.”

Nomad then threw his cards up in anger, and letting out a stream of curses as Piedmon wordlessly snapped his fingers and removed the table, cards and poker chips, as it seemed Bruce had won several games of poker. Roland and FanBeemon however, had simply been watching from the sidelines. In fact, when those left behind had seen that Thor and Percy were back, all five of them left the train and congratulated the teen, and they also seemed impressed by his new look.

Ancient Kazemon however, decided to make her presence known as she immediately picked up young Bruce and held him close to her chest as she nuzzled him.

“Oh, such a precious cinnamon roll!” she said, causing the boy to be very confused, as were Thor and Percy. Unfortunately, Piedmon on the other hand got a different greeting as he was suddenly pulled up into a bear hug by Zero.

“Oh my Tamers, Piemon, _you’re alive!_ ” he said estatically, “Man, if we ever see Sigma again, he’s going to be so happy!”

“What in the name of Quartette are you talking about!?” Piedmon said as he struggled to get free of the Royal Knight’s arms, “My name is Piedmon! P-I-E-D-mon! Who is this Sigma person, and what is an obvious Malware-head like you even _thinking!?_ ”

“UlforceVeedramon is just crazy, Piedmon.” Kudamon then said once the clown broke free, and also kicked Zero away from him. “He’s been like that since he was accepted as a Royal Knight, so… just ignore him.”

“Gladly.” Piedmon said, while Nomad helped Zero up. The Royal Knight then looked curiously towards the cloaked stranger, before shrugging as he stood and dusted himself off.

“Sorry.” Zero said, “Anyway, my name is Zeromaru, but you guys can call me Zero!”

“Pleasure to meet you…” Piedmon then said dryly, while Roland just pretended this silliness wasn’t happening.

“So, are we going to take GranLocomon back to the base?” the satyr then asked, while the clown looked at the train and shook his head.

“No, I believe we’ll take one of Bruce’s spare gate disks. He did manage to pack ten of them, just in case they were needed.” he then said, before holding out his hand, and with a wave of it, turned his friend into a keychain once again in a puff of smoke, before placing it in his pocket. With that done, Bruce- now that he was released from Ancient Kazemon’s hug and also had a chance to catch his breath, pulled out a gate disk, and made sure everyone was closely gathered together before activating it and along with the rest of the group, vanished in a flash of light.

~~000~~

Back at the base, the throne room was unoccupied as Captain America entered it in hopes to find Beelzemon and ask about something. Of course the super soldier soon ended up being temporarily blinded instead with the arrival of Percy’s group.

Once his vision cleared, and he saw that not only had they succeeded, but also gained some new allies, Steve Rogers then smiled and spoke.

“Welcome back.”

~~000~~

In the basement lab of Lillithmon’s palace however, the wicked queen, and the small robotic digimon known as Datamon looked at a tanslucent glass tube, where something was suspended within, and as still as the dead.

“To think.” Lillithmon said as she smiled at whatever was within, “A few strands of that warrior’s hair, along with a bit of my data created such a wonderful looking trump-card, and so quickly as well.”

“Well, I _am_ the master of making data clones.” Datamon then said, before mumbling something under his breath about unappreciative tone deaf apes. “However, this project of yours still needs a digi-core ‘donated’ to it in order to even move… and by they way my queen, what will you name this creation?”

“Allow me to worry about the core, dear Datamon.” Lillithmon then said, not even taking her eyes off of her creation, “As for a name… I believe Magni will do just fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this was the longest chapter I think I ever wrote at this point in the fic, especially since it took a good seven hours to write out when I did originally. 
> 
> Anywho, Zero is from the V-Tamer manga, and was also one of the main characters along with his partner Taichi... who's an alternate of Tai from the first two seasons of Digimon. Now, how did Zero get in the fic's universe? Uh... he pissed off a Wisemon and got sent to another Timeline. That's the best explanation I've got so far.
> 
> Also, Iris the Ancient Kazemon... is pretty silly too, don't you think? Then again, you'd probably be as well if you lived in a cave with a silent roommate for who knows how long. But eh, at least she gets her mail delivered still. Also, the Sexy Dynamite poster? Frontier Reference that the English dub didn't get. This chapter also reveals that Royal Knight Magnamon had a relationship with Zero. 
> 
> Now, onto the most important part of the chapter: Percy Black's dream and meeting Sora and Yolei. Why did I choose to do this? Well, I felt it'd be neat to see how kids from this fic's universe would interact with bearers of their respective crests from the Adventureverse. I don't know if I got Yolei right, but I seriously hope I got Sora down in this chapter, even if it's just a cameo more than anything else.
> 
> Also the Datamon that Lillithmon talks to? Yeah... it's the one that tried to clone Sora.
> 
> Next time on Digivengers: Jokermon returns.


	24. Negotiating with the Enemy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beezlemon ends up having an unexpected encounter, and takes advantage of it before making plans with the resistance.

It had taken him many days to reach Turtle Valley, and after many detours, getting wrong directions, and at one point running like hell from a very pissed off SkullGreymon, he had finally reached the only place in the entire Ring of Love that was- as far as he knew, still flourishing with life and also where the Resistance had been hiding. Jokermon could almost cry that his mission was almost done, and as he quickly adjusted the black bandanna over his right eye and cleared his throat, the jester stood on the valley’s edge, preparing for what was to come.

“Beezlemon!” he shouted loud enough to create an echo, “Beezlemon! I have traveled a long way to reach the Resistance, and I wish to speak with you at _once!_ ”

~~000~~

Meanwhile, in the garage located just above the tail of ElDradimon, Beezlemon was sitting on his bike and writing in his journal when he heard the call. Of course, he also sensed trouble about the sudden shouting and simply sighed before closing the book and got up. After lifting the seat and revealing a hidden compartment, he then hid the journal inside before taking a moment to stretch his wings as he thought about how best to confront the potential troublemaker.

And then he looked at his bike, the sleek machine being freshly repaired after Leopardmon broke the red glass cover and also both headlights the day before. While Beezlemon did repair the bike quickly despite the machine’s ability to repair itself, he also spent the rest of the day before doing some detailing, cleaning, maintenance and a little extra upgrading to the machine’s durability, adaptability and most importantly, speed.

The idea of testing out a couple of new features he added to his beloved motorcycle and potentially scaring off trouble was enough to make the Resistance Leader grin.

“Might as well give Behemoth a little exercise while seeing what’s up.” he then said as he grabbed his Berejena SDX Arm Cannon, placed it in the special side holster he had added to Behemoth- along with a few other things, after he joined Mastemon’s guard and gained his armor at the price of his tail, “Just hope this doesn’t turn into a repeat of that thing with BelleStarrmon. The last thing I need is another crazy fan that decides to copy my old look…. or put copies of my mask on their bullets.”

With that said, the Resistance Leader hopped on his beloved bike, revved up the engine, and as the garage door was already open, popped a wheelie and rolled down the long, winding tail of ElDradimon. The way the brick laid tail was made, along with the digimon that was being used as the Resistance Base’s large size, Beezlemon had always considered it to be a good road, and so after finding a secondary exit above the tail, had decided to locate the garage there.

Which, in hindsight was certainly better than the alternative.

“Alright Behemoth,” Beezlemon then said with a wild grin as he reached the tail’s end and leaned forward while also keeping his wings folded as tightly as possible against his back, “let’s see if those new tires and boosters I gave you are ready for action!”

The demon lord then clicked a button on the right throttle, causing Behemoth to roar to life as the monstrous bike gained speed, the rockets at the back of the bike burning as Beezlemon jumped the bike off the tip of ElDradimon’s tail, and angled her so that she’d land on the wall, while also praying that she didn’t crash.

Behemoth however, activated the spikes hidden in her tires on her own, and also allowing her rider to climb up the vertical wall with ease. Soon, Beezlemon reached the top, even going into the air a bit after riding past the edge of the cliff and went over the digimon who called him out, before landing a short distance behind him and after sharp turn, stopped Behemoth and smirked a bit at the successful test run.

As Beezlemon then glanced at the badly dressed clown in front of him, he noticed that they were not only scared out of their minds, but probably doing their best to avoid creating a Sukamon then and there. The Resistance Lord then dropped the smirk and crossed his arms as he got off his bike, the annoyed expression he now held as he glared at the jester being a pretty big hint to what he said next.

“Who are you, and what the hell do you want?”

“Well, Beezlemon, I, Jokermon have spent quite a few days searching for you.” the other digimon then said, reaching behind him as he suddenly became quite serious. As Beezlemon himself then prepared to draw his smaller Berenjena from the holster on his leg , the demon lord then stopped and became quite unsure of what was going on as Jokermon pulled out a tape recorder instead of a weapon, got on one knee and turned the thing on as he held it out between them.

“Lord Beezlemon, I have sworn to Lillithmon to not return until I have your permission to become not only her partner in crime, but also her future husband!” Jokermon then admitted dramatically as he went from serious to over the top in half a second. In fact, the clown even closed his left eye and rested his other arm against his head as he seemed to look away while continuing to speak, “So please, give me either your blessing or your denial so that it can be recorded as proof that I’ve succeeded in my quest!”

Beezlemon said nothing at first, and only blinked all three of his red eyes at the rather hammy digimon’s intentions, as someone asking him for permission to apparently marry his deranged sister was the last thing he’d expected. Mainly because of the fact someone was actually willing to even go this far. As Beezlemon thought about the idea itself and remembered Lillithmon’s obsession with the ex-lord of Gluttony, he then realized that Jokermon was most likely sent out here to either find the base for Lillithmon, or just be used as cannon fodder for Beezlemon.

 _‘Probably both of those at once.’_ the reformed Demon Lord thought to himself, and wondered how to handle this without playing into his sister’s hands. It was then however, he started thinking that this situation could be used in the Resistance’s favor. Not only could his approval potentially lead to Lillithmon to stop obsessing over the former Lord of Gluttony- as unlikely as that was in the first place, but more importantly he could be able to try and get back Sheena if he played his cards right.

After remaining silent in his thoughts, and also watching Jokermon become rather nervous for a few moments, Beezlemon then smiled.

“Alright, I’ll give my blessing, but only under one condition.” Beezlemon then said with a smile, causing the clown to nearly lose his balance.

“C-Condition?” Jokermon then asked, “I’m not going to have to fight you, am I?”

“Only if you have a death wish.” Beezlemon said, still keeping up the smile as he continued. “See, Lillithmon has captured one of my resistance members, a human girl with pink hair named Sheena Barnes. What I want before giving my full approval is you and Lillithmon giving the human girl back to the Resistance. If you can make that happen, then its wedding bells for you, Jokermon.”

“I-Is that all?” Jokermon asked, getting a nod from his future brother in law, “Well then, that should be a simple enough exchange! There’s a coliseum one day north of Turtle Valley, we can use that as a middle ground for the drop off, and then the wedding within about… two days!”

The clown then skipped over to Beezlemon, holding out his free hand. As the two then shook on the deal however, the Resistance Leader then added, “By the way, if you or Lillithmon try anything two days from now, not only will I be very unhappy, but I will bring the whole resistance to your doorstep, rescue Sheena, and the rest of Lillithmon’s captives, understand?”

“Yes, of course!” Jokermon then said, before turning off the recorder and in his ecstasy, let go of Beezlemon’s hand. “Don’t worry Big Brother, I’ll make sure that your price is paid in full!” With that said, the clown then jumped, clicked his heels in mid air and at surprising speed, started running all the way back to Lillithmon’s palace trailed by a cloud of dust.

“What a weird guy.” Beezlemon then said as he watched him leave, and then revved up Behemoth, “But, this may lead to the end of Lillithmon’s reign, and also finally let me not have to worry about my crazy sister anymore!”

And so, Beezlemon rode back to the base, excitement at what he had just done giving him a whole lot of hope for the future.

~~000~~

Later, Beezlemon then entered the Throne room, only to see Captain America catching up with the returned party of Piedmon, Percy, Bruce, their digimon partners and Thor. However, upon seeing three unfamiliar faces and the Royal Knight UlforceVeedramon- who Beezlemon himself thought was an oddball but still a decent enough digimon, the leader cleared his throat and also gained the group’s attention.

“Well, while I appreciate the help you guys managed to gather for the Resistance,” he said, “The new friends you have with you will need to wait a little while before I can figure out how exactly they can help us.”

“Just where have you been, anyway?” Percy then asked, causing Beezlemon to grin.

“Oh, just managing to get us a way to retrieve Sheena _without_ anyone almost dying this time, as well as perhaps defeating Lillithmon for good.” Beezlemon then said with a grin, while the teen, and everyone else looked at him with a lot of interest.

~~000~~

“Now, before we begin, are there any questions?” Beezlemon then asked as he stared at the gathered high ranking officers of the Resistance consisting of Mervamon, Wisemon, Valkyrimon, EmperorGreymon, and MetalGarurumon. He also looked at the gathered eight kids and their partners as well as Diamondback, while also noting that Tina was still in her cast, and having to stay off her injured leg by using a wheel chair, which Astamon was standing just behind. The Royal Knights Crusadermon, Gankoomon (who also brought along Huckmon) and the newly added Zeromaru were silent, and as Leopardmon was still in the dungeon for another couple of weeks, those three would be the only ones coming to any meetings that occur before then. Piedmon himself was also present, as he best knew just how bad Lillithmon had gotten since Beezlemon last saw her and could help as a consultant for their upcoming battle plan, while Anubismon was there to help try and keep arguing to a minimum while resting his Honeyville Slugger bat across his shoulders. Finally, Beezlemon eyed the four Avengers: Tony Stark, Cap, Ant-Man and even Thor. While Ancient Kazemon, Rabbitmon, Nomad and Aegiomon were made to wait outside during the meeting, the leader of the resistance personally hoped that there weren’t too many questions.

“I have one.” MetalGarurumon growled, the cybernetic wold digimon earning everyone else’s attention, “Where the hell are MagnaAngemon and the twins? They never miss a meeting.”

“Unfortunately, MagnaAngemon sacrificed himself three days ago while Team Angel was dealing with three Deltamon and a pair of SkullGreymon that were having a territorial dispute. As a result, Team Angel has been temporarily disbanded until we can assign a new leader while MagnaAngemon gets a new life in Primary Village.” Beezlemon said, causing the digimon to nod solemnly while Thor decided to speak up.

“You make it sound as though he forgot his old one.” the Asgardian then said, leading to Anubismon to speak up.

“That’s because he did.” the winged jackal said, “MagnaAngemon’s core was older than most of you gathered here today, and had some major issues that’d make his next life cycle buggy as hell, so I had to do my job by saving his memories on a separate disc and gave his core a full reset to avoid those bugs.”

The humans and Asgardian present at the meeting soon looked uneasy at the description, most of them silent as they weren’t sure what to say exactly. Except for maybe Captain America.

“You… erase who they are before a rebirth?” he then asked, the super soldier unsure what to think in regards to the moral implications.

“Sometimes, yes but only after I’ve made a back up of their memories so they won’t be completely gone.” Anubismon said grimly, “I personally hate doing that part of the job, but it’s a necessary evil I got to do to prevent major and devestating glitches from occurring in some digimon at birth. Magna Angemon for example, had been born in his most recent life with the ability to breathe fire, which for a Poyomon is pretty much a neon sign asking to make jokes about Roasting Marshmallows. Anyway, this ability stuck with him his whole life, and if I let him be reborn as he was this time… the fire breath glitch could have evolved into something much more destructive that could lead to major trouble for the digital world.”

The explanation was enough to keep everyone from the human world silent, and while Anubismon noticed how uneasy Valkyrimon seemed to get during his explanation when no one else did, he wasn’t able to ask her directly as someone else decided to speak up in regards to MetalGarurumon’s other question.

“So… where are AngeWomon and LadyDevimon?” EmperorGreymon then asked, crossing his arms as he looked at Beezlemon, and judging by the armored dragon warrior’s eyes, he was probably smirking under his helmet as Beezlemon blushed a bit and did his best to explain.

“Well… uh… the twins are um… _busy_ at the moment, and couldn’t make it.” he said, and also earning some snickers from some of the gathered digimon.

“What could be so important that they’d miss a meeting?” Captain America then asked, having missed the apparent joke along with everyone else that wasn’t a digimon.

“The twins are er… well… the thing is…” Beezlemon tried to explain, only for MetalGarurumon to speak up instead.

“They’re trying to jogress, aren’t they?” the metal wolf then said, causing Beezlemon to nod and causing the kids and the Avengers to look confused as Diamondback herself groaned and shook her head while she muttered something under her breath about timing.

“What’s Jogress?” Tony then asked, while the cyber-wolf grinned a bit as he tried to explain.

“Well, when two digimon are highly compatible, they- the wolf began to explain, only to be cut off by Beezlemon.

“We’ll get into that another time, right now we have business to discuss.” The blushing resistance leader then said, “Now, are there any other questions that don’t have to do with life, death, and certain functions of digimon?”

Beezlemon then noticed that Ant-Man had his hand raised as he heard the door open, causing him to look at the massive, quadrupedal, vampiric digimon that had just arrived to the meeting. The twin eyeless shark heads on his hips letting their tongues hang out as they sniffed around the room.

“Yes?” Beezlemon said to the superhero, though he already had a guess what his question would be.

“Yeah… just who or what is _that?_ ” Ant-man then said, “Because I don’t think I’ve seen him before… and I really don’t think anyone else has either.”

“I am GranDracmon, the warden for those the Resistance puts in jail.” The monstrous digimon then said quietly once he joined the group and letting the more humanoid top half of his body give a bow, “I had to have my new Deputy Warden from Little Witchelny, BlackWarGreymon watch the prisoners while I attended my first meeting in a long time.”

While most of the others seemed uneasy around the warden, only Tina, Astamon, the founding members of the Resistance and Anubismon seemed fine with GranDracmon’s presence. Of course, as there were no questions after that, Beezlemon decided to start the meeting with a debriefing of Percy’s adventure (complete with illustrations from Piedmon) in order to catch everyone up on what they had missed. Of course, though GranDracmon was unnerved by VenomMyotismon’s appearance in Magna Town, he seemed to calm down when he heard the monster’s fate. Of course, while the warden and Anubismon didn’t say anything, the two digimon did subtly exchange looks, as if hoping it would be the last they had seen of the former Resistance Intelligence Officer.

After the recap of Percy’s mission was done, Beezlemon then decided to give everyone the good news, and reason he called the meeting. After he relayed the event of that morning with Jokermon, and what it allowed him to do, the ex-demon lord was met with mostly excitement, but also a few unsure looks.

“That’s… oddly convenient.” Diamondback said, crossing her arms, “How do we know this isn’t all one big trick, to make us think we have the advantage instead of being played for chumps?”

“I’ve encountered Jokermon before, sadly enough.” Piedmon then said with a bit of annoyance in his tone as he continued, “While he may be a vile, backstabbing, thief of magic tricks with a horrible sense of style to boot, when it comes to anything relating to Lillithmon, he will never lie, or go back on his word if it means the chance to spend the rest of his life with her. In fact, his crush on her is so large, that Beezlemon was right to use it against the idiot.”

“Yeah, but aren’t we forgetting that Lillithmon is a bad guy?” Tony then argued, “How do we know this won’t turn out to out to be a trap that we just let ourselves walk into?”

Both Beezlemon and Piedmon then exchanged looks.

“Would you like to say it, or shall I?” Piedmon then asked.

“I’ll say it.” Beezlemon then said, causing Piedmon to nod and signal for him to have at it. Tony however, simply looked on in confusion while Cap did his best to hide a smile about what was to come.

“Lillithmon may be evil, but she’s really not that intelligent when it comes to strategy and controlling a large battlefield in her favor.” Beezlemon finally said, “She was never really able to manipulate large groups. Individuals who fall for her, sure, but everyone else on her side she just beats up when she starts to figure out she’s losing. Hell, I had to convince the Vilemon to form a Union because of her temper alone, especially when she’s jealous. Besides, I am her main weakness, and since she could never dare to pull any tricks or even lie to her- and I feel sick even saying this, ‘beloved brother Beezlemon,’ the drop off should be as straight forward as it sounds.”

“Still.” Percy then said, “There’s no telling what may happen to cause things to make Sheena’s rescue go to Sod’s Law, so we should have a plan in place just to be sure.”

“He’s got a point.” Cap said, “We can’t go into this unprepared, or without having an idea of what will be waiting for us. Bucky and I learned that the hard way while trying to stop HYDRA, and it’s haunted us ever since.”

“Yeah, I read about Bucky’s death in High School along with the other efforts of Captain America and the rest of the Invaders.” Diamondback then said before looking directly to Beezlemon “So then ‘Boss’ what are we going to do when things go to hell?”

“While Percy does raise a good point,” Esteban then said, causing the newly armored teen to roll his eyes, “I’m pretty sure that he is to still remain here at the base for this mission. He may have been allowed to leave just to get his new equipment, but I don’t see how he can act like he’s going on this mission as well.”

“Esteban.” Beezlemon then said while getting fed up with the Spanish teen’s know-it-all attitude, “Percy has been released from his sentence ever since he snuck out, rescued Thor, and nearly died in the process. Now, unless you have ideas to propose for the plan, I would like you to shut up, and keep any antagonism you have towards your fellow Digital Knights to yourself, understand?”

“Yes sir. Sorry for the assumption.” Esteban answered quickly, and remained silent after being put in his place.

Unfortunately, about an hour into the planning session, all they had was that one member goes in, gets Sheena, and leaves, with people arguing who would go.

“Hey!” Huckmon then said, causing Gankoomon to pick up the little dragon and set him down on the table everyone was gathered around so that he could be seen. “I think we’ve been overlooking something here, you know? Instead of just one person going, and possibly getting deleted when things go wrong, why not just send a group to act as back up?”

Unfortunately, before anyone could say anything regarding the dragon’s idea, Tony decided to attempt to shoot it down.

“Listen, I don’t know why _you_ were allowed to stay and listen in, _Tinker Toy_ , but I’m pretty sure the bad guys would prepare for that. So, why don’t you just run off and find a stick and someone to play Fetch with you?”

Unfortunately, as everyone else was aware of Gankoomon’s temper by now, Everyone that was near Tony at that moment decided to move away while the red headed Royal Knight looked down at the grumpy genius.

“Huckmon’s a former Royal Knight, and smarter than he looks, _Brainiac._ ” Gankoomon said, his fists clenched at his sides.

“Looks more like some kid’s toy than a knight.” Tony then said, which caused everyone behind Gankoomon to back away, especially Astamon as he decided to forgo wheeling Tina to safety, and just pick her up in his arms and getting the lead out as he moved out of the blast zone.

“YOU CALLING MY SON A PLAYTHING!?” Gankoomon then roared, pulling his fist back and adding, “ _Tekken Seisai!_ ”

Tony Stark was then decked hard enough that for the second time in the digital world, he had gained a black eye in record time. 

“Are you sure he’s a genius?” Kudamon then asked Captain America, who had ended up standing next to Percy while moving out of Gankoomon’s range.

“He is… Most of the time. However, sometimes he doesn’t always have good judgement.” Cap said, before helping Tony up as the attack floored him. After that, planning resumed, and thanks to Huckmon’s suggestion, soon figured out a group to go to the coliseum in two days.

“So, as it stands,” Beezlemon then said, “Myself, Wisemon, Percy, Kudamon, Bruce, FanBeemon, Thor, Captain America, and Zero are to go meet Lillithmon and get Sheena back, while Piedmon heads to the Capital with RaptorSparrowmon’s help to go rescue Venusmon while my sister is distracted by us. Since she will most likely believe I will be there through Jokermon, she will definitely show up to see me in person.”

“Basically, making us the distraction while Piedmon plays hero.” Percy said, while getting a nod from Beezlemon.

“Meanwhile, Scott, Gankoomon, Crusadermon, Vikemon, that Nomad guy, and everyone else will stay at the base, and in the event of some of Lillithmon’s forces attacking… as highly unlikely as that’s going to be as well as I know my sister, they will be able to defend it, and the girls.” the Resistance Leader then said, “Now, since she also doesn’t know about GranDracmon, even if she does send minions to fight us, and they manage to get in… they’ll be in for a nasty surprise if they somehow slip past Gankoomon.”

“You speak as though he is quite strong.” Thor then said, while the other digimon present, even Gankoomon himself, answered the Asgardian with silence, and the occasional awkward laugh.

“I really am.” GranDracmon then said, remaining quiet and polite as he explained, “Changing enemies into ice, and being the true lord of all Nightmare Soldier class and Undead Digimon, unlike what that terrible Myotismon only claimed to be is something that most digimon tend to fear. I, in fact, am actually more powerful than both Beezlemon and our enemy Lillithmon, but I am more than happy to serve the resistance as a jailer, rather than lead… after all, I have a terrible reputation that would allow for more digimon to join Plutomon if I had decided to lead.”

“What sort of reputation?” Ant-man then asked, feeling pretty uneasy.

“Well, an angelic digimon who was a little confused once decided to attack me in my home when all I had done that might be evil was paying a little extra attention to a kind waitress working at a lovely little bistro only a short walk from my castle… until the rings were created at least.” GranDracmon said, “In any case, after that angel broke into my home while I was watering my garden, he ended up falling and turning into a demonic digimon when I turned out to be innocent of whatever evil he thought I committed. He fled, and ever since there’s been a nasty rumor that I can charm an angel into falling just by talking to them.”

“Wait, if he didn’t fall because you talked to him,” Ant-man then said, “What exactly did, and better question, what was he and what did he turn into?”

“I’m sorry to say that I can’t answer that right now,” GranDracmon then said, indicating to Beezlemon as the Resistance’s leader was starting to get annoyed, “We are still in a meeting after all.”

“Thank you.” Beezlemon said once he had everyone’s attention again, “Tony, I need you to stay as mission control in Wisemon’s place. Since you tend to flirt, Lillithmon could use that against us pretty quickly. Now, before anyone else decides to change the subject, I would like to know if there are any problems with the current plan, because if not, then the meeting wi-”

“I want to go with you to the Coliseum.”

Beezlemon, and everyone else then looked at who spoke, and saw that it was in fact, Mervamon, looking pretty pissed off at the moment.

“Mervamon, you and I both know that you have to stay in the base, or else Lillithmon will target and try to capture you.” Beezlemon said, obviously concerned.

“What about her obsession with you!?” Mervamon then asked, causing the rest of the gathered heroes to back away slowly from the soon to be arguing leader and second in command, “You’re as much of a target as I’d be, remember? So don’t give me that ‘trying to protect me’ speech, Beezlemon. In fact, you know how well I can fight.”

“I also know that the last time Lillithmon and you were in the same place, you almost got yourself deleted before you could escape!” Beezlemon argued, “You know damn well how I feel about you Mervamon, and when I saw how badly hurt you ended up, I was worried I’d never get to Valkyrimon in time to save you! Hell, when I went to that factory with Cap and the Kids, I left you in charge of the Resistance because I didn’t want you to push yourself during recovery!”

“And just how _do_ you even feel about me, Beezlemon!?” Mervamon then asked, “As close as we are, I don’t even know what goes on in that head of yours half the time! Not to mention you passed out when I kissed you a while back! Hell, I even wonder if you forgot who saved your feathers during training, field duty as Mastemon’s Royal guard, and when we were on the run while forming the Resistance!”

Dammit Mervamon!” Beezlemon shouted, “You tried to kill me when we first met, and after that you’ve been going into fight after fight whenever you can, and I just want to not worry about you trying to get yourself killed for _one damn day!_ ”

“I’ve been standing by in the base ever since we got here Beezlemon!” Mervamon shouted back, and also holding her gigantic sword in her hand like she was about to use it on the ex-Demon Lord, “I want action, I want a chance to do some actual fighting rather than training, and dammit, your sister is _begging_ to get her ass kicked, and I want to be there and make damn sure she gets what’s coming to her!“

“FINE!” Beezlemon said, just giving up, “You want to go get yourself deleted while fighting my crazy sister again, you can join the rest of us like you want! But, if you don’t survive, there’s still one last thing I want to do before that happens.”

“And what would _that_ be?” Mervamon asked angrily, but was answered by Beezlemon pulling her close, dipping her backward while also causing her helmet to fall to the ground as her two golden eyes looked up in confusion at Beezlemon’s three red ones. With a serious look on his face, Beezlemon then spread his wings as he kissed her deeply and passionately, causing Mervamon to flinch a bit before letting her normal arm fall to her side while the snake arm Medullia wrapped around them both. 

Once the kiss was done and the two caught their breath again, he then helped her stand up straight as they let each other go, and finally spoke.

“Mervamon, I love you and if you get deleted when we go to get Sheena back, I will definitely wait until you’re reborn, and back to being a Mega level digimon just so I can just tell you I was right.” Beezlemon said, looking Mervamon dead in the eye while she looked a bit stunned- whether it was from the kiss or the confession, no one knew. Finally however, she relaxed and smirked as she moved to pick up her helmet.

“Then make sure I don’t get my ass kicked.” she said, before she and Beezlemon looked back to their audience.

“Well, what are all of you looking at?” Beezlemon then shouted, “We got a battle to prepare for in two days, now go out there and get ready!”

No one said a word as most of the group, led by GranDracmon immediately scrambled out the door. However only Wisemon stayed behind a little longer and seemed almost happy to see the Resistance Leader and the woman warrior.

“It’s about time you spat it out _Loverboy._ ” was all the tech and intelligence expert of the resistance said, before leaving the two alone as he also wheeled Tina’s forgotten wheelchair out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this chapter shows that Jokermon is still alive, surprisingly, and also a bit of Beezlemon's sneakier side. Of course, there were some funny moments during the meeting itself, but also a bit of world building in what Anubismon does sometimes for certain digimon who come to him for judgement.
> 
> Though, one must wonder why Valkyrimon got a little nervous about the glitch thing. I won't say anything though...
> 
> Finally, the big damn kiss between Beezlemon and Mervamon. This moment is what finally establishes them as a couple, and man I had fun writing the arguement leading up to it, as well as the moment itself!
> 
> Next Time on Digivengers: We see what final preparations are going on before the final battle of the Ring of Love...


	25. The Killing Jokermon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day before the final confrontation with Lillithmon, both sides have a moment to think about and prepare various things...

The young Percy Black looked up at Piedmon from the floor of the Training Hall, Laevateinn having been knocked from his hand while the tip of the clown’s training sword was pressed against Percy’s neck.

“Your form needs work.” Piedmon said as he helped the teen up, who then took his blade in hand and went off to take the padding that had been placed around it for training as the clown continued. “You’re legs are too far apart, your balance is rubbish, and it’s just too easy to disarm you as it is.”

“Oi, I’ve only been learning for a day and a half.” Percy said as the two sat down to take a break on a nearby bench, where Kudamon waited with two bottles of water for them, “I may be a quick study for magic, but martial training is a different beast for me.”

“Let’s just hope you’re grandfather decides to help with that in your dreams as well.” Piedmon then said with a smirk, before looking a bit grim for the upcoming battle, “Percy, with your current skill, do you really think you’ll be able to wield Laevateinn enough to protect yourself in battle tomorrow?”

“Only if there’s no other option.” Percy said, before looking at the rose colored blade in his lap, “But, I will be using my magic first, and I’ve been practicing a few tricks with Gramps in dream land.” The teen then demonstrated by concentrating on levitating the longsword while directing it with his hand, and as the blade shakily hovered towards the training dummy, it seemed to be threatening to fall before it could even strike.

“Focus on just the blade, and the target.” Piedmon then said quietly, putting a hand on the teen’s shoulder. Percy didn’t say a word and started following the clown’s advice and as the teen’s new weapon stabilized, he then started to swing it at the dummy, and hack a bit off of it before the blade fell to the ground.

“Thanks.” Percy said, as he went over to pick it up, and replace it in its sheath. Once he returned to the bench and took a drink of water, it was then his turn to ask a question.

“So, what’s your plan to save Venusmon?”

Piedmon flinched a bit, before looking quite grim as he answered, “As Lillithmon used stolen Earthlin school magic to turn Venusmon into stone, I will have to cast the counter for that particular curse. Unfortunately, curing curses is risky business, as there is always a chance I’ll take the curse upon myself. As a result, I may not be able to return at all after Venusmon is returned to normal.”

As the clown sighed and slouched forward in acceptance, Percy simply placed a hand on Piedmon’s shoulder and silently placed a protection spell upon his friend. As the teen had gotten better at magic, it should have been able to last longer than a few hours like it had for Sheena and hopefully it would help the digimon’s chances of returning safely for his own happy ending.

“I’m sure things will be alright.” Percy then said while the clown didn’t seem to notice what he had done, “Especially if it means getting the girl in the end… for both of us.”

“Perhaps.” Piedmon said with a sad smile, before standing up and taking a moment to stretch. “I’m afraid that’s all the training we can do for today. But, if things work out well for us both tomorrow, I look forward to continuing your lessons after the Ring’s liberation.”

“That’s a promise then.” Percy said with a grin as he stood up as well while Kudamon took his place on the teen’s shoulders.

“I shall certainly try to keep it.” Piedmon responded, and the two immediately shook hands to seal the deal.

~~000~~

Elsewhere, within the inner city of the base, Nomad was just walking along in the sunshine and enjoying the good weather as he kept his hands in the pockets of his cloak and just whistled a song called _Over the Rainbow._ As he walked alone while everyone else was busy getting ready for the battle, he was soon drawn out of his thoughts by a voice behind him.

“Nomad, wasn’t it?” said Captain America, nearly making the cloaked stranger jump. As Nomad then turned to face the Super Soldier, the glowing white eyes peering out from the shadow of his hood seemed to give the Captain a look of intrigue.

“That’s my name alright.” he then said with a smile, “You’re that Captain America guy, aren’t you? Do you need something?”

“I’m just trying to figure out where you came from.” Cap then said, “To be honest, the digimon never really mentioned another human other than Diamondback, and Thor wasn’t even sure how you ended up in Aldamon’s Dungeon in the first place, since to him, you only appeared out of nowhere.”

“To tell the truth, I really don’t know where I came from either and only woke up in this world with just one idea in my head: Travel and see what I can do.” Nomad said while shrugging off the question, “I wasn’t sure how the digimon would take humans, so I grabbed a cloak to blend in, and as I’m just a man without a country, what else could I be but a simple Nomad? As for Thor, maybe he just overlooked me at first, I mean, my cloak can help me blend with the background a bit in dark places.”

Captain America however, didn’t seem to completely buy the story, but as he had nothing else to go on, did his best to hide his suspicion. In fact, the super soldier decided to just change the subject completely as he smiled at Nomad.

“I see,” he said at first, “Anyway, good luck defending the base tomorrow. I on the other hand, get to help with the harder job.” Nomad however, only laughed at first.

“Neither of us need luck.” Nomad then said, “Anyway, I’m looking forward to working with you in the future.”

“Likewise.” Cap then said, before giving a brief salute and walked away. Once the super soldier was out of hearing range however, Nomad lost his cheerful attitude and sighed.

“Wish I didn’t have to lie to you, Steve.” he said to himself, before noticing a few of the iridescent butterflies associated with Swallowtail fluttering nearby. Glaring at the insects, Nomad immediately spoke a bit louder as he asked, “Are you happy now, Swallowtail?”

Nomad never gained an answer, as the glowing bugs simply fluttered away in silence.

~~000~~

Anubismon was waiting outside of Wisemon’s lab after asking the cloaked digimon to examine Roland’s core. Though it was a bit of a challenge convincing the fearful Satyr to go along with the idea, especially when Wisemon produced the mechanical spider legs he used to probe anything he was examining from out of his chest, but Anubismon managed to pull it off.

Threatening Roland to be eaten by Ammit did help a bit of course.

Unfortunately, the silence Anubismon was enjoying soon ended with a piercing scream, and immediately afterward the lab door opened.

“Never, _ever_ come back to my lab again!” Wisemon shouted, before throwing Roland out of the lab. Anubismon, thankfully near a wall, then watched the Aegiomon skid across the floor, momentarily cringing at how painful it might have been since all the digimon wore was a tattered vest and scarf. Finally, the Judge of the Dead looked at the very pissed off tech master of the Resistance.

“What’s wrong?” Anubismon then asked while also sounding a bit indifferent.

“What’s wrong? _What’s wrong!?_ ” Wisemon then repeated, “I shall tell you what’s wrong! That is no Aegiomon! That, that _thing_ has twos in its core’s binary! Not only should that _not be possible_ , but it means that someone managed to do something they shouldn’t have! Messing with digicores to the point it becomes impossible to even function normally, and still do so just goes against the laws of Nature in the Digital World!”

Anubismon however, gave Wisemon a flat look before looking over at Roland as he struggled to get back up, and while he sensed the digimon’s core, it only seemed slightly off, but not completely unnatural. The judge of the dead then looked back at Wisemon, still keeping up that flat look as he spoke once again. “Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”

“Just don’t let that Thing near me, or my lab again.” Wisemon said, before slamming the door in Anubismon’s face. The winged jackal then sighed, and as he helped Roland stand up straight, silently considered that Wisemon’s actions may end up reflecting on him when his time came.

“What was that about?” Roland then asked, apparently not having paid attention to the conversation. Anubismon however, eyed the blue gem in the Aegiomon’s chest, and noted that it seemed a bit dull for the moment.

“I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you.” Anubismon then said, “Wisemon’s just having a bad day.”

The two then left, walking together until later on, when they encountered Bruce and a young girl. When the nine year old boy spotted them however, he smiled and waved as he got their attention.

“Roland! Anubismon!” he said, causing the two digimon to look towards him, “Come over here and meet my friend, Megan!”

“Hi!” Megan then said, grinning while her partner Dorumon grumbled. Mainly because the purple dragon-fox was currently wearing an embarrassingly pink ribbon tied into a bow on his neck and tail, while Tokomon X got to wear a large black coat that dragged on the floor, as well as a slightly tattered black hat that covered the X on its head along with its ears. As for FanBeemon, he just had a red ascot around his neck and seemed to be lost in a somewhat heroic fantasy at the moment.

Accessories aside, Anubismon was just trying very hard not to laugh at the former Alphamon’s ribbons, while Roland seemed a bit surprised to see the girl. In fact, as the satyr’s eyes seemed to glaze over a bit, he seemed like he was a bit out of it.

“She’s grown.” he then said absentmindedly and rather quietly, though thanks to Anubismon’s animalistic features, the judge of the dead looked a bit curious towards Roland.

“What was that?” Megan then asked, having heard something but not realizing it was Roland. As the digimon snapped back to reality however, he then walked over and did his best to look at them at eye level while he smiled.

“Oh, it’s nothing.” he then said, “Anyway, how about we go see the digimon in the Primary Village? I’m sure they’d love a chance to play, right?”

“Yeah!” the two children then said, and as they led the way, they, Roland, and the three digimon they were with headed off. Anubismon meanwhile, only watched as they passed by him, noting that the gem stuck in Roland’s chest now seemed to be a bit brighter. Realizing that the youngest of the Digital Knights may be the key to helping Roland solving his mystery, the winged Jackal figured it would be best to see where their interactions would lead. For now however, Anubismon decided to follow them, partly to observe Roland and also because he wanted to make sure the digimon he sent there for rebirth were enjoying their new lives.

It had nothing to do with how cute they were as baby and in-training level digimon, at least, that was what Anubismon chose to believe anyway.

~~000~~

Later on in the training hall, Gankoomon and Zero were watching Huckmon train with the Sistermon. Though the young dragon was doing more running as Noir shot at him with her handguns than anything else, while Blanc was doing her best to keep her sister from accidentally hitting the two Royal Knights with her random shooting through the use of a barrier. As the younger of the two sisters happened to specialize in those, Zero breathed a sigh of relief as a bullet harmlessly bounced off of it.

“So Zeromaru,” Gankoomon then said, “How did you end up busting through the floor of a cave, after making a crater outside of it?”

“How should I know!? Maybe Maggie gave me some of her miracle power when I wasn’t looking.” Zero said, “How did you show up in the Ring of Love after Ceresmon kicked our asses?”

Gankoomon looked at the blue Royal Knight in confusion after tearing his visored eyes off of Huckmon. “Why the hell would we be fighting Ceresmon?”

“Don’t you remember that investigation that we, and the other knights did in the Ring of Kindness before the coup?” Zero then asked, while Gankoomon hit his fellow knight over the head.

“I remember fighting a ton of bugs over there, but not Ceresmon!” Gankoomon then shouted, obviously getting ticked off while Blanc sighed and did her best to ignore her boss’s temper for now.

“Is your memory alright? Because I could have sworn you were deleted during the battle.” Zero then asked while rubbing the lump that managed to form through his helmet before he healed up with the Ulforce, which in turn caused Gankoomon to look confused again.

“Well clearly I ain’t a rookie again, Zeromaru, since I’m standing right here.” the red-haired royal knight then said, "What do you remember?”

“That you, Omni and Crania were turned to fertilizer and absorbed into the Karpos Hule.” Zero then said, “Me, Jesmon, and Gallantmon were the only survivors of that investigation, since it was really a trap set by Plutomon, and Ceresmon was who attacked us.”

“Nah, that can’t be right– Huckmon stop messing around and get fighting!” Gankoomon said as he took a moment to see the young dragon still running while Noir continued shooting away like a maniac before going back to Zero, “Anyway, I’m pretty sure I remember Ceresmon helping us back in that ring, but that’s the last thing I do remember before I woke up healed in the Karpos Hule, went to find the others before seeing Jesmon reverted back to Rookie in Honeyville, heading to the Ring of Love to find the Sistermon, and finally waking up in Magna Town. Craniamon definitely bit the dust, but Omnimon was split apart and sent to who knows where when I got knocked out, and Huck told me that after I got out of sight in the Karpos Hule, he got blasted from behind by a sneak attack and crash landed in Honeyville.”

Zero immediately became rather worried at this news, and realized that there was something not right about the two stories.

“Sorry.” Zero then said, and both Knights began to wonder who’s story was the correct one.

At least, until Noir ran out of bullets and leaving young Huckmon surrounded by an outline of bullet holes after his attempt to attack the black garbed Sistermon went horribly wrong.

“Okay, that’s enough for now!” Gankoomon said as Blanc then dropped the shield. Huckmon then breathed a sigh of relief as he fell forward, while Noir whined and wished to do more training. Thankfully, one glare from the Dragon Spirit Hinukamuy was enough to get the older Sistermon to back down.

~~000~~

Within Lillithmon’s palace, the Demon Lord of Lust had just finished listening to the playback on the tape Jokermon had made, and while she couldn’t believe her brother actually agreed to let this clown marry her, she had decided to agree to Beezlemon’s terms, but also make sure Jokermon was taken care of before tomorrow.

To do this however, she started by taking Jokermon to see Magni, the new project she was working on. Though she did end up killing Datamon when she became suspicious of him potentially betraying her, the unhinged demon lord still managed to keep his notes available for future use.

After all, one never knew when making an army of digimon hybrid clones could come in handy.

“So, why are you showing me this?” Jokermon then asked as the two of them looked at the shadowed form resting on the table before them, the clone becoming ready to take out of the tube it was created in just before Jokermon’s return. Lillithmon however, smiled and hugged him close to her, the shorter clown blushing as he found his face pushed against her chest.

“Well, _darling_ if we are to work together,” she said, her tone sweet with her partner in crime, “Then would it not be best to share our plans with each other? For starters, Magni here is a digital clone created from that warrior’s hair, and part of my coding. However, he is still incomplete if we are to use him against my brother’s stupid Resistance.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Jokermon asked, not even noticing as Lillithmon’s golden claw pressed against his back. Suddenly, he let out a gasp as the wicked queen plunged the claw into him, ripping out his Digi-core and turning it black with her dark power.

“I just need to borrow your digi-core to bring our _baby_ to life.” she then said to Jokermon’s fading body, before letting it go and walking closer to Magni, slowly pushing the core into his chest while also using her dark powers to alter the core’s memories in order to avoid her new child betraying her.

“Don’t worry my dear.” she cooed as Magni began to twitch to life, “Mother will be sure to help you get ready for your big debut tomorrow. Won’t uncle Beezlemon be so surprised to meet you? I know he will, as will your father, my precious little Magni.”

The wicked queen then began to sing a lullaby for her creation, Lillithmon’s sanity apparently having gone off the deep end long ago.

~~000~~

Back at the base, in the Primary Village, Anubismon was watching Roland interact with Megan and Bruce, along with the very young digimon that lived in the plush locale. However, he soon shuddered as he felt a chill go down his spine and sensed that someone had just prevented a newly dead digimon from going off to him for judgement. Not only that, but he sensed that someone was also corrupting the core, and he knew that only one kind of digimon could even do something like that.

A Demon Lord.

Of course, when he sensed an immediate rebirth, the winged jackal then growled as he stood up and headed out to find Beezlemon. If Lillithmon had decided to do his job, and also chose to play with the dead for her own ends, then he was just going to have to insist on joining the Coliseum Party and find out just what the hell the only other remaining Demon Lord had decided to pull.

Life, Death and Rebirth were best left to the professionals after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, in this chapter we have bonding between Percy and Piedmon, Wisemon banning Roland from his lab for life and showing his distaste for anything he might deem as unnatural, Tokomon X pretending to be Bancho, A set up for a sub plot for the next arc, and finally the death of Jokermon as he goes from character to plot device.
> 
> Yes, this chapter's title is a pun based off of a very famous Batman arc comic-wise. Considering that the digimon anime did similar jokes with their episode titles. 
> 
> Anywho, Next time on Digivengers: The battle for the Ring of Love, Sheena's Rescue, and CAT FIGHT!


	26. Battle for the Ring of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Test your might, test your might, test your might in MORTAL COMBA--- Holy shit is that catfight!?

The Coliseum was dark and imposing in the light of dawn, and as Lillithmon waited in the best seat of the house known as the Imperial Box and watched her lone warrior wait for the Resistance below, all seemed quiet. The Demon Lord of Lust then looked towards the object hovering over the arena: a large crystal containing a sleeping thirteen year old girl with pink hair, blue clothes, a red knitted hat, red armored gloves with the Crest of hope on the back of her hands, red boots, black goggles and finally a white watch. This girl, Lillithmon knew was the one who took down Mercurymon and while the demon lord didn’t quite like the girl, she was apparently important to Beezlemon to the point that he insisted on getting the girl back today while negotiating with the late Jokermon. Of course, losing a digital knight she captured wasn’t that beneficial- even if the girl’s partner couldn’t be retrieved from the watch no matter what Datamon tried before his death, the thought of trading her off in exchange for her brother was intoxicating.

So, she decided to honor Jokermon’s deal, in her own twisted way.

After laughing to herself, she then heard the familiar sound of Behemoth’s engine and the wicked queen watched as the Resistance arrived. First came her brother on Behemoth, with the bike apparently modified since she had last seen it, and unfortunately she also noticed that sitting just behind him was that wench Mervamon. She had almost destroyed her brother’s beloved second in command a couple of months ago before the snake-armed warrior fled somehow, but seeing just how close the barely dressed woman was to her brother today made Lillithmon’s anger rise. As the wicked queen’s unarmored hand petted the purple and brown digimon in her lap known as a Yaamon- an in-training level one that looked like a bouncing head with floppy looking horns, a fang sticking out of its mouth and mischievous green eyes, Lillithmon did her best not to shout in protest as the others followed after them. No matter how much she truly wanted to.

First to enter after Beezlemon was what looked to be the Royal Knight Ulforce Veedramon, carrying a masked man dressed in red, white, and blue that carried a matching shield. The wicked queen didn’t know who this man was, nor did she care, and moved on.

The next arrival was Anubismon- much to her surprise, just flying in and carrying the familiar looking book Wisemon was attached to under one arm. As the Jackal-headed judge landed and opened it up. the hooded digimon popped out in a flash of light. Of course, as Lillithmon saw the hooded digimon’s orbs of time and space hover by his shoulders, the wicked queen also noticed Anubismon pull out a beautifully made baseball bat made out of petrifed wood. While she avoided him back when she visited Little Witchelny, to see the Judge of the Dead here and aiding her brother was not a helpful sign for the wicked queen’s chances of victory. Lillithmon however, didn’t care in regards to herself, but did worry a bit for her new champion in the arena below.

Next came the blond warrior, Thor, who thanks to Piedmon and who knows who else, was able to escape her palace. Lillithmon only smirked at the warrior, who in response glared back at the wicked queen before eyeing the lone warrior in front of the group.

Following the blond warrior were the last two arrivals, the first being a teenage boy with white hair containing a single blue streak that was riding on the back of a Reppamon, while wearing odd clothes with a circlet on his head and longsword on his back. As for the other one, that was a Waspmon carrying a much younger boy in its arms whom to Lillithmon, seemed like a fashion disaster with his button up shirt, bow tie, suspenders that were on his shoulders instead of just hanging loosely at his hips and also purple pants, loafers, and tube socks.

“Couldn’t my brother gotten a better dressed child to arrive with them?” Lillithmon then said to herself while ignoring the Monitamon that had shown up as well.

~~000~~

Within the arena, the heroes looked at the villianous warrior in front of them that wore a bat winged helmet that hid his face while his eyes glowed gold through the slit allowing him to look back at them. His armor it seemed, was an odd mix of Thor’s and an ancient samurai’s, with red bolts of lightning going through two rows of golden circles on his black breastplate, a golden and clawed right arm, a beastly black left arm, and two pairs of leathery black wings that at the moment, were folded and resembled a cape. Over his armor however, the warrior wore a purple and gold armored coat similar to Lillithmon’s own robe, while in his black hand was a large, and viscous looking axe that was certainly worthy of a demon. The warrior’s eyes were as focused on Thor as the Asgardian was on him, and no one even said a word when Lillithmon snapped her fingers allowing the gates behind the other warrior to open and bring out reinforcements consisting of black furred and wolf-like Garurumon, and black dinosaurs with red stripes and green spinal plates going down their backs that made them resemble a cross between a tyrannosaurus and a stegosaurus. Finally, a horde of Vilemon came through, and upon seeing Beezlemon, they actually started acting like major fanboys as they seemed to want the Resistance Leader’s autograph as they crowded around him and Mervamon.

Of course, as they soon remembered that they were in a serious situation, they immediately moved back with the rest of the enemy forces, while also somehow managing to look sorry for what they were going to end up doing.

Beezlemon of course, once the Vilemon retreated, then looked up at Lillithmon, and started to look uneasy as he spotted the Yaamon in her lap.

“So, you have my in-training form with you.” Beezlemon then said before sarcastically adding, “That’s certainly _not creepy_ or anything.”

“No ‘hello,’ brother dear?” Lillithmon then asked as she pouted, “First you bring that turquoise haired _slut_ Mervamon with you, and now you just ignore your own sister. I simply cannot believe you would be so cruel towards me Beezlemon.”

“Stuff it in your bra, Lillithmon.” Mervamon then said in annoyance, while the snake Medullia making up her left arm hissed in anger towards the Demon Lord. “Now, give us back Sheena.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I will.” Lillithmon said, glaring at Mervamon while adjusting her robe a bit around the chest and exposing the body suit she wore under it, “But only after Beezlemon’s new nephew, Magni has his first battle.”

“I’m sorry, but _what_ did you just say!?” Beezlemon said, looking at the warrior along with Anubismon, who growled.

“So _that_ is what Lillithmon did with Jokermon’s core, after she ripped it out and corrupted it..”

“ _What?_ ” Captain America then said in surprise, but for the moment went ignored as Lillithmon spoke up, preventing Beezlemon from explaining.

“It’s true, that I _did_ kill Jokermon for his core, but only to give my little boy life. With Thor’s DNA and part of my own data creating him, well… I guess you can consider him Thor’s son as well as mine.”

At those words, Magni then took off his helmet, revealing long black hair and a face that resembled the Asgardian’s own, with golden eyes and even small, golden horns growing out of his head. Thor’s shock at seeing what Lillithmon had done matched everyone else present as silence filled the arena. Thor himself even tightened his grip on Mjolnir, as he realized the implications of the situation.

However, Magni then seemed to spot something and looked up at the sky in confusion.

“What is it that you see, my dear?” Lillithmon asked.

“It looks like a bird, Mother.” Magni said as he looked up towards her, and causing the younger Resistance members present to freeze up for a moment, “Shall I bring it down for you?”

“Ignore it for now, sweetie.” Lillithmon said with a smile, and also missing the look of relief on Percy’s face, “Just focus on the battle ahead.”

“As you wish, Mother.” Magni then said, looking away from the bird just as it finished passing over head. The devilish clone then raised his axe, getting ready for battle as Thor did the same with Mjolnir. Angry that the evil ruler not only used his DNA without his consent, the Asgardian was also disturbed by the fact that technically, Magni was his son.

“Lillithmon, you are insane!” the Asgardian then cried, causing Beezlemon to groan as the former demon lord added, “Pretty sure that’s been established by now.”

Beezlemon then held up his Berenjena SDX, the massive arm cannon pointed at Lillithmon as he spoke to her next. “So then Lillithmon, why don’t you tell me why you decided to work with Plutomon?”

“Because he promised to bring back our family dear brother.” Lillithmon then said, before smiling as she seemed to get an idea, “In fact, how about a wager? If you win, you get your little human back and I surrender to the Resistance, but… if Magni wins, then you have to take the girl’s place as my prisoner.”

“No way Lillithmon.” Beezlemon said, “In fact, why do you even _want_ Barbamon back? Don’t you remember how he just screwed us over while he was alive? That greedy bastard kidnapped your egg and even me from the Primary village, and used us as tools! Why would Barbamon being revived even be a good thing!?”

“I just want us to be a family again!” Lillithmon then shrieked, the pins and comb in her hair slipping out a bit and her carefully prepared appearance started to become a mess, “How can you not desire that things go back to how they were!?”

“Let’s see, abused, twisted into monsters, causing nothing but mayhem and suffering for everyone else? What a _huge mystery_ that is.” Beezlemon said dryly, “Don’t you remember that I had Mastemon spare you too, because I hoped you would be able to redeem yourself like I have?”

“Work for the witch that destroyed the only family we had!?” Lillithmon shrieked again, while the pins and comb fell out of her hair and landed on the stone floor just as Yaamon bounced out of her lap and hid behind her seat in fear once the wicked queen became fully unhinged while her long, black hair tumbled down her back and also over her face. “I will never, ever do that, or became some… _‘Goody-goody_ ’ like you have! Magni, destroy the others, but leave Beezlemon alive so he can see what trouble he’s caused for his allies!”

“As you wish, Mother!” Magni roared, and so the battle began.

The DarkTyrannomon were the first to rush in as Magni and Thor became locked in battle, the giant dinosaurs chasing after Waspmon until they believed they had him cornered. Of course, as Bruce was now in the stands thanks to the digimon’s quick thinking, one tap of the D-Watch then caused the flying cannon to turn into the flying missle fortress CannonBeemon, which then started chasing after the former pursuers and firing missiles at them.

Wisemon and Anubismon, meanwhile, actually worked together to destroy the BlackGarurumon surrounding them, with the book bound digimon using his time and space orbs to destroy a few of them, while the rest were either beaten to a pulp by Anubismon’s Honeyville Slugger or sent flying out of the coliseum and to parts unknown. Zero and Cap were also facing a DarkTyrannomon duo that didn’t decide to go after Bruce. As Zero used his sword and shield to block their attacks, Cap managed to use his own shield to actually take out their eyes and blind them before they left the dinosaurs at the mercy of Mervamon as the two heroes decided to go help Thor keep Magni busy.

Speaking of Mervamon, she was busy using her Olympia Kai and spinning around in a tornado of movement as she used the move, “Madness Merry-Go-Round DX” to take out a BlackGarurumon, before Medullia decided to swallow a whole DarkTyrannomon that tried to attack her next. She then went and blasted the two downed digimon Cap and Zero took care of with twin red lasers coming from her chest of all places, the move itself being called “Heartbreak Shot.”

Finally, Beezlemon was busy with the Vilemon, who instead of attacking the leader of the Resistance, had decided to betray Lillithmon and fight her other forces, while the ex-Demon Lord who inspired them to unionize directed their efforts to strike back against their old boss. While he did that, he also battled against a few digimon that tried to attack him anyway, and each time he got hurt, Lillithmon actually destroyed those digimon from where she watched the battle, just as he had expected her too.

Lillithmon however, then noticed all but two of the Resistance fighters were actively fighting in the battle and immediately started scanning for the boy on the Reppamon, who was busy running along the edge of the arena, heading towards Sheena’s prison. Snapping her fingers, the coliseum gates opened again, giving her more reinforcements as digimon known as Minotarumon- bull headed, humanoid digimon with leather boots, a zipper on the front of their bodies, and a gattling gun in place of their left hands, entered the arena. The whole group of minotaurs then charged at Percy and Reppamon, while Lillithmon believed they would be trampled to death but she jumped when she saw them go through the boy instead. The image however, then faded as it turned out the real pair were on the arena’s wall, and preparing to run past the horde of goons that were then placed at the mercy of CannonBeemon’s missle barrage.

“We won’t let you win, Lillithmon!” Percy Black shouted as he and Reppamon picked up speed as they neared Sheena’s prison. “As the Knight of Love, not only am I going to bloody well show you that Love hurts, but I am going to get Sheena out of there!” As the masked fox digimon then jumped, a cloud of smoke left over from CannonBeemon’s barrage obscured them. Suddenly, there was a flash of red light that managed to dissipate the smoke, and everyone paused their battle to watch as Percy’s partner morphed from a masked fox with a bladed tail, and into it’s Ultimate level. When the light cleared, Percy was now on the back of a green, dog-faced unicorn with a scaly back, a red blade for its horn, a white and orange mane, violet eyes, a mustache made of two thin whips of energy, mighty white wings with feathers so tiny and thin they looked more like hair and a long, golden tail that looked like smoke as it curled at the end. The beast also wore green armor accented with gold, as well as had its legs covered in tan cloth and bracers with black, metallic netting while it’s feet were covered in black cloth.

As for the end of the change, it came when four bolts of lightning struck at its hooves, turning into armor and also gaining small, swirling clouds trailing after them as it flew through the air.

“Oh… Oh shit!” One of the still living BlackGarurumon howled, “It’s Chirinmon! I don’t want divine punishment just by doing some killing for Lillithmon! Surrender if you value your lives everyone! Otherwise, it’s every digimon for themselves!”

“I don’t care if it _is_ some living legend!” Magni roared in anger as Lillithmon’s remaining forces decided to run away, “No one makes a fool of my mother!” The half Asgardian warrior then threw his axe, only for it to pass through what turned out to be a second illusion, with the real Percy and Chirinmon soaring towards Sheena’s Crystal prison.

“Hurricane Gale Blade!” the flying beast then shouted, its body soon surrounded by a visible swirl of white wind coming from its horn, and immediately smashed through the crystal to release Sheena. Percy then caught the girl in his arms, and thankfully neither of them were harmed by the falling shards, unlike a few unlucky Vilemon. The two teens were covered by Chirinmon’s wings for a moment, and once they were visible again Sheena was not only awake, but pretty pissed off as she unleashed her partner Kukumon from her watch, and digivolved the shining white boxer.

After a flash of golden light, the flowing bodied boxer lost her mask and gained a clearly more feminine body that was immediately covered in a leather, fringed dress with the DigiCode spelling of “Falcon” painted down the front of the skirt in red. Her legs were covered with metal, bird clawed boots, while her face was covered by a cowled cloak that resembled Vukumon’s skin, complete with red tipped lavender wings, and also eyeholes cut out to allow the digimon warrior’s own blue ones to look out at the world, while the cowl’s beak went down to the warrior’s nose. She then took the now featherles sash that was normally around Kukumon’s waist and quickly tied it to her right arm, before a spear appeared in her other hand, the shaft carved with more digi-code that said “The wind still rises.”

“Ladies and gentlemen, Monokemon is back!” the warrior woman cried out once the evolution process was complete, and with the use of her spear, quickly ran it through one of the digimon that was still stupid enough to fight, before she faced Magni and shouted “Falcon’s Gale!”

Immediately afterward, the wings on her cloak flapped and a giant blast of wind that looked suspiciously like a more beastly version of the Avenger, Falcon struck the demonic warrior with a punch, knocking him to the ground. Of course, the elemental construct then exploded into a mighty gale, taking out various stragglers while also leaving the Resistance completely unharmed.

“Can anything else go wrong!?” Lillithmon shrieked, while looking worried about the fact her son Magni was now pinned to the ground by Thor’s hammer. Struggle as the clone might, he was unworthy to even lift the mighty Mjolnir and as such, was stuck.

~~000~~

Earlier, before the fight even began, Piedmon had flown over the battlefield on the back of RaptorSparrowmon, being careful to obscure himself, and also fly high enough to seem unworthy of Lillithmon’s attention. As they passed overhead without a problem, the flying digimon then sped up and headed straight towards the Ring of Love’s capital, before landing safely in the castle garden by Venusmon’s statue.

However, before immediately restoring the rightful ruler to life, Piedmon could feel the tears roll down his cheeks as he spoke.

“Venusmon.” he began quietly as he stood before the statue, “Please, if you can hear me, I hope you can forgive me for my failure to prevent Lillithmon from taking over. If not… then I’ll understand, my dear Princess.”

The masked clown then kissed the statue’s lips, silently casting the counter curse as he pulled away. Bracing himself for a stony fate, he then watched as Venusmon shifted from white marble to flesh and blood, her skin becoming pink and soft, her jewelry and armor returning to its silver shine, and even the red orb she had around her neck returned to normal while her long, tornado of hair turned back to its bright blond while the white ribbons and even the braided cord wrapped around it started to move in the breeze. The wings on her boots then flapped, and the small wings on the sides of her head became feathery once again. As for the dove and clam she held, the bird flapped its wings and shuddered while the clam turned back to its own normal state as it yawned.

“Piedmon?” Venusmon said as she shook her head and sounded a bit dazed. “Why are we out in the garden?”

Piedmon said nothing at first, instead hugging her tightly as he smiled before he told her what she had missed. “Lillithmon attacked us and forced me to watch as she turned you to stone and took over the Ring. I was forced to be her butler, she redecorated the entire castle except for my chambers, captured digimon while believing they could be viewed as being more attractive than her, and she also decided to destroy your collection of fine art before I managed to get the Resistance to free me of her service!”

Venusmon was silent, taking the information in, but as Piedmon pulled away, he could see that the kindly and blindfolded princess was now rather angry as her dove Olive and even the clam Hotan were shivering in fear.

“Oh dear.” the dove said, before perching herself on Piedmon’s shoulder.

“Someone is gonna die.” said Hotan bluntly, while Venusmon then gave Piedmon a smile.

“Piedmon?” she said, “Where is Lillithmon now?”

“The old coliseum you closed down, milady.”

“Perfect.” Venusmon then said while still maintaining her smile, “Can you take me there immediately, my love? I believe its time to teach that demonic bitch a lesson about the power of Love.”

Piedmon said not a word as he simply picked Venusmon up in his arms and got onto RaptorSparrowmon’s back, the fast flier taking off quickly and getting back to the battle in minutes. Just as Lillithmon asked how things could get worse, the two then jumped off their ride as it passed overhead and Venusmon then shouted as they landed on the Arena’s wall, straight across from the Imperial Box that Lillithmon was seated.

“Hey Lillithmon!” she said as Piedmon held her close by placing his arm around her waist, and also showing that from the side, the blond’s white gown only covered the front, and didn’t do anything to cover the bikini bottom she wore in the back, as well as getting the disheveled demon lord of lust’s attention, “Guess who’s back?”

“PIEDMON YOU ROTTEN TRAITOR!” Lillithmon screamed, while the clown simply snapped his fingers and relased the four blades on his back from their sheathes and let them hover defensively around the couple.

“I am not a traitor, if I was forced to serve you against my will. Nor is it a betrayal if I am simply doing what I’ve been waiting to do for a while: _Making your life hell._ ” Piedmon then said with a smirk, before letting Venusmon go and moving away from the blond with a polite bow. The true ruler of the Ring then placed her clam on the wall and let her dove fly to safety, before the Ring of Love’s Princess jumped up into the air and with her winged, metal boots made a beeline straight towards Lillithmon as she punched the she-demon square in the face.

With the first blow made, the two women then flew out of the Royal Box of the coliseum, and started a mid air cat fight, complete with kicking, clawing, hair pulling and more.

“Why don’t you just give the boys down there a good view?” Lillithmon said as she tried to rip apart Venusmon’s gown, only to miss thanks to a quick dodge.

“Because I don’t want to make my Piedmon jealous, Witch!” Venusmon said, before kicking Lillithmon in the gut, only for the wicked queen to grab the princess’s golden hairnado and begin swinging the blond around.

“I was never really fond of that bleached blond look!” she said before letting go, only for Venusmon to go flying back before stabilizing herself.

“Hey Venus!” Mervamon then said while everyone else on the ground except for Magni was scrambling to the stands, with Beezlemon actually carrying Behemoth into the stands as well to avoid any damage from the current cat fight, “Use this!”

The warrior woman then threw her blade, the Olympia Kai, which Venusmon then caught by the handle and held in both hands.

“Thanks Minervamon!” she said, “Like the new look, by the way!” Venusmon said with a smile as she then charged ahead, using the large borrowed blade to slice up Lillithmon’s robe, and exposing the black and gold bodysuit underneath in its full glory. Lillithmon however, merely roared as the two started going hand to hand, with Venus dropping the sword and letting it land point first just a few inches away from Magni’s face. With more hair pulling, mid-air wrestling, and even slapping each other silly, the gathered resistance members merely watched as it was never wise to get involved in a cat fight. Especially if one of the combatants knew Mervamon personally.

“I know I shouldn’t be watching,” Bruce said, as he was seated between Captain America and Thor with Puroromon in his lap, while Zero sat behind him and whistled at the fight, “but I can’t take my eyes off it.”

“I really didn’t see a cat fight coming.” Cap then said, managing to look away while his face was rather red, “or that Venusmon would look like _that_ , and _Lillithmon_ of all people to actually look more modest in comparision.”

“Tis a great shame that Stark is missing this!” Thor said with glee, just as Lillithmon was thrown to the ground and making a small crater in the process, her hair a mess, her bodysuit ripped and torn, and her blue eyes looking quite manic.

“I’ll kill you!” she screamed at Venusmon, but Percy- who had Chirinmon stay below the fight while he and Sheena remained on his back while Monokemon cheered from the stands as she watched, decided to stop the wicked queen from returning to the fray.

Mainly by freezing her with an icy blast, and through the use of the telekinetic skill Loki had been teaching the teen, quickly drew Laevateinn from its sheath and used the sword to slice the frozen she-demon to bits. The frozen chunks of Lillithmon then turned into bits of snow white data surrounding fragments of a black core. As the core’s remains went straight to Anubismon’s open hand, he merely destroyed what was left, and condemned Lillithmon to a permanent deletion.

“Mother…” Magni said in shock, as Piedmon decided to jump into the arena and with his four blades flying around the clown, calmly walk towards the pinned warrior, “Mother! Please you can’t be dead!”

“Magni,” Thor then said, getting the pinned warrior’s attention as he tried to appeal to the part of his clone that came from the Asgardian, “would you rather not work with I, your own father and help the Resistance fight against Plutomon? You have the potential to be an excellent warrior with the proper training, Magni and you do not have to be Lillithmon’s champion any longer.”

“Never!” Magni screeched, “Never shall I work with my mother’s murderer, friend of my father or not. Starting with that traitor Piedmon, I will kill everyone associated with the Resistance until only the murderer remains!”

Thor said nothing, his attempt to turn his clone and by extension, son to the side of good having failed. By now Piedmon stood in front of Mervamon’s blade, and with a flick of the wrist, returned it safely to its rightful owner as he looked down at the maddened warrior.

“So, you wish to duel me?” Piedmon then said, before crossing his arms and pursing his lips, “I’m not so sure you should go through with that… I’m much more than I seem, after all.”

“I will crush you, _wretched fool!_ ” Magni growled while struggling beneath the weight of the tiny hammer Mjolnir on his back. 

“Oh, I haven’t heard _that one_ before.” Piedmon sacastically said with an exaggerated sigh and an eyeroll as he stepped back a bit and looked towards Venusmon. As he gave her a bow he then added, “My dear Princess, if you will be so kind as to allow me to defend my honor?”

“Piedmon… he looks rather strong.” Venusmon said, rather worried for the magician, “Are you sure you can handle him?”

“Quite sure. This is not, after all, my first non-magical- or musical duel.” Piedmon then told the princess, “I’ve been challenged to many before, back when it was only GranLocomon and I traveling together, and I have not lost one yet.”

“Musical duel?” Captain America asked Thor, causing both the Asgardian and Anubismon to groan- even if the Judge of the Dead was on the other side of the arena with Monokemon.

“You do not wish to know.” Thor said as he remembered the finale to their adventure in Little Witchelny.

“Alright.” Venusmon then said, giving the clown her permission to fight. Smiling, Piedmon then clapped his hands as he looked up at the midday sky.

“Hmm… perhaps it would be best if I set the mood for a _proper_ duel first. Just to make it as memorable as possible. Masks Square.” he then said, and with snap of his fingers, a wave of energy went through the coliseum, causing all who were gathered to shudder a bit except for the clown and even Percy. Next, he popped the bones in his neck, and stretched a bit as he then locked his fingers together and cracked his knuckles, before stating “Clown Trick.”

“First, lighting.” he said, and with a gesture, started affecting the very time of day from high noon to a more exciting sunset, before looking around and nodding in approval as he did some minor tweaks to get it just right, even if Magni was getting annoyed. “Ah, perfect! Next, let’s take a look at the locale. If this is to be a memorable duel, then this place will definitely need a makeover.”

While taking a deep breath, the clown then exhaled and began his work as everyone, even the impatient Magni watched. A few pointed fingers here and there led to banners in light green, blue, red and yellow decorated with the runes of Witchelny in a darker shade: the green “A” of Baluluna with a pair of triangles at bottom points and the line going through it ending in a swirl, the red spiral flame of Eneruge, the blue spiral forming a jar shape and a line through it representing Aquary and finally the brownish yellow sprout coming out of the ground that represented Earthlin. Between these banners, he then placed a few extra ones with the Crest of Love. Finally, as he pointed to the Imperial Box Lillithmon had been in before the cat fight, the run down section was quickly cleaned up and the wicked queen’s black banner displaying a green, bat-winged heart was replaced with a white one that bore the Royal Crest of Witchelny, which consisted of all four elemental runes on a shield covering the legendary lance, Dynas.

“Now, for the _almost_ final touch, a _much bigger_ audience.” Piedmon said, and with a snap of his fingers, he not only teleported everyone that was in the base at the moment with the exception of the Primary village and their caretakers (as well as those locked in prison), but while Aldamon, Venusmon, Tandy and Mystimon sat in the Imperiall Box where Yaamon had hidden, and even come out to hop into the human girl’s lap, the other children and their digimon were grouped together near Cap and Thor, with the exception of Percy and Sheena, who had the best seats on Chirinmon’s back above the arena. Monokemon was also moved next to Tina ‘s partner Astamon, and thanks to Apemon who shifted in his seat a bit, ended up getting shoved onto her back as she looked up at the Demonic Gangster, her face exposed and revealing her face to actually be kind of cute and very human despite her messy, sky-blue hair. 

“Huh, so this is what you look like at Ultimate. Didn’t think you’d get an… okay looking pair of legs, Vukumon.” Astamon said while Tina got caught up on what was going on from Bruce.

“It’s _Monokemon_ when I’m at Ultimate level, you jerk!” the bird cloaked warrior themed vaccine digimon then said as she readjusted her hood and sat back up again, her cheeks red as she crossed her arms.

“Whatever, _Angel._ ” Astamon said with a smirk, and causing Monokemon to smack him with the wing of her cloak.

“I-Idiot.” she then muttered, and looked away.

~~000~~

Meanwhile across the arena, Anubismon buried his face in a giant hand and groaned.

“Oh sweet Yggdrasil, of all the digimon she gets like that for, it’s Astamon.” Anubismon said to himself, while Wisemon listened in with interest.

“Oh? Are your ears picking up a potential relationship, Anubismon?” the book bound digimon then said as he rubbed his clawed, inky black hands together, “Do tell!~”

“Monokemon, Rhinemon’s last form before going Mega, is getting all red-faced and antagonistic towards Astamon.” the judge said, causing Wisemon to giggle as he wrote down the information in a black book.

“Ohoho! So she’s a Tsundere type of digimon, is she? And according to legend, Rhinemon was an angel digimon so her falling for a charismatic demon like Astamon will certainly get the bets rolling in!”

“She had a boyfriend before that bastard Zola showed up.” Anubismon said flatly.

“So?” Wisemon said with a shrug, “She can’t remember her old life presently anyway, so that shouldn’t be a problem, should it?”

“Well, she did date Clavismon, and since he seems to still be alive and hasn’t even seen me once since 1945, that will cause problems if they cross paths. He… actually tried to keep her from fighting Zola when he showed up, and did not take her sacrifice well.”

“Fallen?” Wisemon asked as he continued to write.

“Worse.” Anubismon said, “He’s still an angel, just obsessive.”

“Ah, so like Cherubimon then. With or without a cult?” Wisemon asked rather casually.

“Without. Last I heard, he’s a hermit somewhere in the Ring of Kindness.” Anubismon said as his ears twitched in annoyance.

“Right, right,” Wisemon said as he finished writing and hid his little black book under his robes. “Well, I’m looking forward to seeing how this little relationship turns out.”

~~000~~

Back with the kids and Avengers, Tony Stark had ended up in the stands next to Captain America, looking quite confused.

“Okay, anyone want to explain how Piedmon managed to teleport just about everyone here?” he said, “Also, what the hell happened? The Monitamon watching the fight seemed to get its signal cut after Percy rescued Sheena.”

“Venusmon showed up to battle Lillithmon one on one, Percy dealt the final blow to Lillithmon, Magni has challenged Piedmon to a fight, and the clown is making it one we won’t forget.” Captain America then explained, “Probably in case he doesn’t win.”

“Wait, I missed a cat fight!?” Tony said, before he spotted Venusmon while she was standing up in the Royal Box and staring over the arena. “Also, think I got a chance with her?”

“Flirt with Princess Venusmon, Mr. Stark, and you will end up missing the duel.” Piedmon said, just as he conjured up some phantom audience members to fill out the remaining seats, as well as a phantom white armored knight with a pair of red dragon head shaped decorations on his knees, green on his helmet and breastplate, a magnificent scarlet and gold mantle and finally a pair of golden eyes peering out at the crowd through his white helmet with red dragon wings on the sides. Aldamon however, looked as surprised as Mistymon, who then placed his hands over his stomach and frowned as he clearly recognized the one who impaled him at the end of the Witchelny War.

“Father…” Aldamon said quietly, and also managing to avoid staring at Venusmon as from what he had heard, she was his brother’s paramour.

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” the phantom knight then said as it stood in the Imperial Box, “We are about to witness a grand duel between Piedmon, fighting for the Princess Venusmon, the safety of the Digital World as well as for the Citizens of Witchelny- of whom he is their Prince, and the villainous Magni, fighting to avenge his cruel, wicked mother Lillithmon. This duel, shall be to the death, and if anyone tries to help either side, they will be taken out of the Coliseum and returned to whence they came. Now then Duelists, take your positions.”

Piedmon said nothing as he became quite serious, taking the blades that had the heart and spade on their pommels in hand while the diamond and club swords remained in the air. As for Magni, once Thor removed Mjolnir by calling it to his hand, the clone held out his own hand and spoke.

“Surtr, to me.” Suddenly, the wicked axe shook on the ground at the other side of the arena, before flying into Magni’s open and waiting hand. Once he caught the weapon by the handle, he then held it in front of him, and faced his opponent.

“Begin!” the Phantom called out, and so, Magni charged, wings spread and flying towards Piedmon. The clown however, acrobatically dodged as he leapt onto Magni’s back, before leaping off and somersaulting onto the arena wall. After going back to the ground, Piedmon then decided to wait until Magni headed towards him again before blocking and feinting some attacks, while also using his magic to use the free flying blades to stab him from behind. Piedmon then decided to add some illusions, such as copies of himself to distract Magni, while also adding a few other surprises, such as turning the ground below Magni into a foot deep pool of water, causing the clone to make a splash, and even at one point summoning a bulldozer and dropping it on top of Magni.

The bulldozer wasn’t enough to stop him however, as Magni used his immense strength to throw it off of him, and out of the arena completely where it vanished after getting past the outer most wall. Despite that and being only a day old, Magni was still an excellent warrior, even doing his best to dodge and deflect Piedmon’s four swords.

Within the stands, Zero was sitting behind Cap and Thor with the kids, his arms crossed as he watched the battle with Dorumon next to him, the furry purple dragon-fox watching Piedmon’s moves with a lot of interest.

“Wow, I’ve been in a fight kind of like what we’re watching before back in my old timeline, but it seems the Piedmon in this one is more dangerous than who I faced.” the Royal Knight then said, “Kind of feel a bit sorry for Magni.”

“The hybrid probably hasn’t been alive that long anyway.” Dorumon pointed out, “So, while he has Thor’s abilities, he doesn’t have the instincts of a trained warrior, particularly how to tell another warrior’s skill level just by studying how they move and act.”

“I may not understand what you’re talking about for the time lines, Zero” Cap said, “But I’m also not sure what Dorumon means either.”

“Well, back in my own timeline, Piemon, er I mean Piedmon- geeze names in this digital world are on the weird side, anyway, he was partnered with a kid named Sigma, and when he used Masks Square, Pie warped me and my tamer, Taichi, to this pocket dimension he could control easily, teleport around in, and also let his Tamer spy on communications sent to me from my partner’s digivice 01. It was a rough battle, but Taichi and I did win and at Sigma’s request spared his partner since well, it was wrong to separate good friends like that. Anyway, since both Pied and Magni are without tamers, there won’t be ably intercepting orders. However, as we can see Pied can still use Masks Square to his advantage, especially in combination with the Witchelny stuff.”

As Piedmon had just teleported behind Magni to deliver a swift kick to the half-Asgardian’s rear end before teleporting away, Dorumon then said his thoughts on the matter.

“Yeah… back before I died the first time as Alphamon? I actually discovered an ability to actually replay a battle multiple times while everyone else- including my opponent sees it just happen once in real time.” Dorumon said “That ability saved my hide multiple times before I finally became Alphamon, and let me study my opponent and figure out a way to kick their butts without actually losing or getting killed. Because of that, I can appreciate Piedmon using an edge if he has one.”

“Did you use it back on File Island then?” Cap asked, while Dorumon blushed a bit and shook his head.

“I uh… still couldn’t remember how to get it working against Ogremon at the time. Performance issues from rebirth I guess.” Dorumon then said before clearing his throat while his partner was too busy cowering behind the digimon’s tail to listen or watch the battle, “Anyway, as I said about Magni, he doesn’t have a clue how to read his opponent, so he most likely challenged Piedmon because he thought the clown was a weakling combined with how Lillithmon viewed him as a traitor, and rashly got himself into a fight he couldn’t win in the first place. Just by looking at Piedmo’s eyes, I can tell the guy’s good. Most likely been fighting all his life too, even though he doesn’t look as obvious about it as Thor does in the muscle department. Kind of want to fight the guy myself once I’m back to being Alphamon again.”

“You do realize I am able to hear all three of you?” Thor said as he then threw in his two cents, “However, I do not believe I would enjoy a battle with Piedmon. In fact, while he reminds me of Loki, he may be even more dangerous as he’s holding back.”

“How can you tell?” both Captain America and Zero asked, while Dorumon simply looked much more interested now.

“Piedmon is smiling as he frustrates Magni with his tricks.” Thor then pointed out, just as the demonic clone roared after falling for another trap from Piedmon, this one consisting of a sticky patch of glue followed by Magni tripping into it twice before feathers appeared overhead and were dumped on top of him.

“Stop this foolishness, wretched clown!” Magni shouted as he spat feathers out of his mouth, “Face me like a true warrior would!”

“Are you sure you want that?” Piedmon asked, acting as though he was sitting on an invisible stool as he crossed one leg over the other while also floating in mid air. In fact, the clown was actually sipping from a cup of tea while his blades hovered in place around him.

“Yes!” Magni said, “LET ME HAVE IT!”

Piedmon actually looked at the whole audience at those words, his annoyed frown showing that not even he could stop this old joke from going uncompleted, and even Dorumon lowered his head to cover his interface with his paws at the line. With a sigh, the clown then shrugged and said, “Well, if you insist…”

Dismissing the cup and taking the heart and spade swords in hand again, while his other two blades kept flying near him, the clown then took on a much more serious expression as after making sure Magni was cleaned up, immediately dodged an axe swing, and began striking the evil warrior in seemingly non-vital areas such as the sides of his arms and legs while dodging the villain’s axe. As Piedmon’s blades managed to easily slice through the cords holding together Magni’s armor, once it was gone the clown then began getting more precise in his attacks. From stabbing through Magni’s arms to keep him from properly swinging Surtr, to even slicing off his wings one at a time as the clown teleported around the battlefield. In fact, even as Magni’s body began to heal itself, he bled more than he healed thanks to Piedmon’s speed and skill.

“I’ll fight forever if I need to!” Magni said as he gave one last swing of Surtur, only for Piedmon to leap into the air and throw his two swords at the warrior, who managed to dodge just in time.

“No, you truly cannot.” Piedmon said, and before Magni could say anything, from the north, south, east and west the demon was run through by all four blades, causing Magni to fall to his knees as his data began to fall apart.

“Was… I a good warrior for Mother?” Magni asked, as his blood coated and dripped from the four swords.

“You’re mother was honored by your own insanity.” Piedmon said coldly, his tone belonging to a man who received nothing but cruelty for most of his life, “As for your father, you have not only disgraced Thor son of Odin, but also all he considers to be his kin while you fought more like a raging demon than an honorable Asgardian.”

Magni said nothing as his body dissolved into bits of data, his remains swarming around like fireflies as his black digicore floated towards Anubismon’s hand before getting a tiny speck of light in the very center. Instead of destroying it or reforming it as an egg right away, the Judge of the Dead instead slipped the core into his pants pocket, hoping to examine it later. As for the battlefield, it returned to normal and the phantom knight faded away, while the sunset providing the mood returned to an afternoon sky. While the whole Resistance as still there, Piedmon quietly snapped his fingers to clean the blood off his four blades and return them to the sheathes on his back. However, the crowd then cheered for the victory and chanted Piedmon’s name for killing Magni, while Percy had been celebrated for killing Lillithmon as those who saw the deed called it out.

“You did very well, my brother!” Aldamon then shouted as he stood next to Venusmon, who then jumped into the Arena, intent on running all the way across it to Piedmon as the current King continued, “You have proven your skill as a magician, and as a swordsman… You big show off.”

“At least _you’re_ still king, Aldamon.” Piedmon simply said with a smile, only to be caught off guard as Venusmon jumped and hugged him tightly before pulling off the clowns mask. Underneath, it was revealed that Piedmon was in fact rather attractive, despite the fact the lavender cowl he wore had been causing his orange hair to stand on end. Of course, as his clown white face immediately turned mostly pink, Aldamon and everyone that was a native of Witchelny became frozen in shock by Venusmon’s action, and the king actually stumbled back a bit as the Princess had, to him at least, basically caused a scandal for the citizens of Witchelny by showing them the face of a noble.

“V-Venusmon!” Piedmon then said, trying to get his mask back while the woman he loved playfully kept it out of his reach before she handed it over to her dove, who then flew even farther out of reach with it, “Just what do you think you’re doing!?”

“Piedmon, after you admitted you loved me, you swore I would get to see your face after I met your brother.” Venusmon said with a grin, “Since this little show you put on allowed that to happen, I’m only making sure you keep your word!”

“But in front of _everyone!?_ ” Piedmon said, but was immediately stopped from protesting further as Venusmon kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here are at the penultimate chapter of Arc 2, filled with battle, a bit of character development, a hidden Falcon Punch joke and hints at what's to come later in the story
> 
> And a happy ending of course.
> 
> Now then, the cat-fight has some direct quotes from the dubbed version of the fight from Season one of digimon. Why? Because Piedmon's involved and a heavenly looking digimon is fighting off a she-demon. How could I not reference that moment?
> 
> We also have Zero talking about a moment from the V-Tamer manga, and Dorumon pretty much admitting he has the Alpha InForce in all forms... once he remembered how to use it again in-story, originally, Dorumon wouldn't have been seen at all this chapter, but when I went back to edit, I threw him in for commentary, and also threw in the scene with Monokemon and Astamon, and the bit with Anubismon and Wisemon.
> 
> As for Piedmon's fight and why it's there? 
> 
> Simple. I just wanted the clown to have one hell of a fight to show off in. Now, imagine if Piedmon was able to pull this crap off in Digimon adventure. The digidestined probably wouldn't have been able to survive, even with Magna Angemon, would they?
> 
> Next time on Digivengers: we wrap up the Ring of Love arc.


	27. Hope and Love United. The First Step to Restoring the Digital World.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The finale to the Ring of Love arc.

Venusmon’s Palace, now restored to its original shining beauty along with the rest of the capital had its gates open to all who lived in Rosae Amore, the liberated digimon that were held prisoner by Lillithmon were standing outside the palace and looked upon the grand balcony where their beloved princess and her consort stood hand in hand.

“Okay everyone! Time to restore our home’s beauty!” Venusmon then said as she sent her dove Olive out to fly over the city and continued holding her hand outward, before she herself looked towards her masked love. “Ready Piedmon?”

“As I’ll ever be.” the clown said, and as he raised his own hand, the two then kissed as the crowd cheered for the Royal Couple. In fact, the love between them was actually increasing Venusmon’s powers as the Ring’s Princess as they sent out a wave of data after the dove, who was a much faster flier than she seemed as within moments, the wasteland that Lillithmon ruled over became a lush and beautiful place once again, with forests, fields of flowers, even lakes and farmland being restored to life.

After they had scattered the Ring with its namesake, the dove had returned and rested in Venusmon’s open hand while Hotan the clam spoke up while the Royal Couple decided to let their moment go a bit longer once they had a chance to embrace.

“Ladies and gentlemon,” the clam then said, “Her highness and Sir Piedmon will need to go inside the palace now, as they still have a big surprise for the whole ring!”

This confused the citizens, but as they saw the Princess and the Magician head inside, they merely waited and whispered and gossiped about what the surprise would be, while the palace’s new head-chef, Shortmon, sent out refreshments for the guests. Of course, for his aid in not only guiding Resistance Agents to where Lillithmon had kept her prisoners hidden, and also aiding in the release of Thor while later providing intelligence to resistance agents through his own makeshift network of informants and gossips, the cake headed digimon had also gained recognition as he became one of the noble “Knights of the Heart,” who were recognized in the Ring of Love as Venusmon’s champions, confidants, and messengers.

The fact that Shortmon was also one excellent baker and able to slip under Lillithmon’s radar while providing snacks to the more talkative Vilemon to gain information also helped.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, Venusmon and Piedmon had decided to take a moment to chat before they revealed their surprise, especially since they still had a few minutes to themselves.

“So,” Venusmon said once she closed the balcony doors behind her, “What will you do now?”

“I wish to continue helping the Resistance battle Plutomon’s forces.” Piedmon then said, and noticing how heartbroken she looked, quickly explained his reasons, “I know we just reunited my love, but I fear I cannot just stay still in luxury while the Resistance continues to fight onward. I’ve had moments where I wanted to just travel around again while we’ve been together, and while I ignored those feelings for your sake, after spending time with the Resistance before yesterday’s battle… I just cannot resist the urge anymore. Combined with the fact that if I stay behind here in the Ring of Love, then there may be a chance I could fail to protect you again from some other digimon like Lillithmon, and I cannot bear to let that happen. Especially if the resistance ends up failing their mission while we wait here in the Ring. They need every hand they can get to improve their chances, as the closer they get to Plutomon and the Center of Light, the stronger the enemies they will have to face.”

“What about Aldamon?” Venusmon asked, taking what Piedmon had said into account and also beginning to understand her beloved’s desires better.

“As much as I would love to reconnect with my brother,” Piedmon told her, before embracing the blindfolded princess, “I don’t think I can bear leaving you behind, worrying if I’ll ever return to you or just traveling on my own again even after the war would lead to you becoming depressed again.”

“I wish I could go with you, Piedmon.” Venusmon whispered as her beloved magician held her close.

“We both know you cannot. At least… while the Rings are still separated.” the clown then told her gently, before pulling away just enough so he could speak to her directly as he continued, “But, I swear that after this war is over, and the Digital World is reunited once again, you and I will travel together and just see the Digital World as it was meant to be.”

Venusmon was definitely caught by surprise for a moment and then smiled at her lover, before kissing him on the lips, despite the tears trailing down her cheeks. “You certainly are ‘The Maginificent Piedmon’ that you used as a stage name, my love. I hope you remain the wonderful digimon I fell in love with, and you give your enemies one heck of a show.”

“I believe I can do that.” Piedmon said with a smile, and the two were about to have a much more intimate moment when they heard someone clear their throat. Looking towards the door heading further into the palace, they saw the masked, living mass of butterflies known as Swallowtail the Atoner, who currently had his arms crossed.

“If you two are ready to do this, then I believe it’s time.” he said, turning around and grumbling about soap opera romances as he led the couple to where they needed to go within the palace.

~~000~~

Elsewhere, in the Ring of Hope, Seraphimon waited in a hidden and rather dusty room that managed to go untouched by Mercurymon while the mirrored maniac had held the armored angel’s home captive.

“I can’t believe we’re finally doing this, after so long.” Seraphimon said while staring at the terminal in front of him that displayed a “please wait” message displayed in big friendly letters, while playing what thankfully just happened to be Minnie the Moocher, rather than a certain tune commonly played in elevators. “Of course, I do wonder what Venusmon is doing to take her sweet time. Though, if it were her predecessor that was still running the Ring of Love, it could have been something incredibly silly.”

Of course, it was at that moment, that the music changed to The Touch by Stan Bush, causing Seraphimon to fist pump as he prepared to play along on air guitar.

“Oh, I love this one!” he said, before singing along as he rocked out.

~~000~~

Finally, the music had stopped as Venusmon’s face appeared on the screen while Piedmon stood behind her in the background. Seraphimon then gave a bow to the Princess of Love, and the Lord of Hope spoke.

“It has been quite some time since I’ve seen you Venusmon.” he said, “You’re coronation I believe?”

“Yes that’s right.” Venusmon said, “Though, these terminals are the only way the other rulers can contact each other, as we cannot leave our rings unattended.”

“As I’m aware.” Seraphimon then said with a grim nod, “Do you have your key?”

“Yes.” Venusmon said, before holding up a metallic version of the Crest of Love, while Seraphimon did the same for his key after he removed the abdominal region of his armor that showed the Crest of Hope. The terminals on both ends then started scanning the keys, before bringing up a window asking for ID and Passwords from both of them.

“Piedmon, can you leave us for a bit?” Venusmon whispered while holding her hand over the mike, as the clown nodded and left the room, the blindfolded blond then removed her hand and spoke first.

“Venusmon, Second Ruler of the Ring of Love. Password, SoraBiyo.”

“Seraphimon, the one and only Lord of the Ring of Hope. Password, TakeruPata.”

The terminals on both ends whirred as they took a moment to confirm the passwords. Once both had been accepted, a new message appeared on the screen. “What would you like to do with the Rings of Love and Hope?”

“Unite.” both said, and were answered by the screen stating “Command accepted. Joining rings.”

~~000~~

Meanwhile in Digital Space, a giant, pale yellow and brown two-headed turtle with a giant tree on his back that was surrounded by twelve pale yellow orbs had just moved between the Rings of Hope and Love, when suddenly beams of red and yellow light shot out from them and latched onto each other. As the rings started pulling themselves closer, the giant turtle’s two heads- one more turtle like with a wooden mask with two horns on it, while the other was more like a snake with a layer of bark with four spikes going from its nose to just above his eyes then looked in both directions and gulped.

“So finally happenin, is it?” said the turtle head in a Scottish accent as it saw the Ring of Love head towards it.

“Aye,” said the snake- whose accent wasn’t really as thick as the turtle’s, as he watched the Ring of Hope, “but, looks like we’re getting to be the first one to return. Pretty bad timing for us, I think.”

The two rings then collided and in a bright flash of light, combined as they now looked like a curved section of the digital world, with the continent making up the Ring of Love now surrounded by water and the Ring of Hope’s File Island a few miles away.

~~000~~

Back in Turtle Valley, Tony Stark was simply walking by a window just as the Rings combined, and felt the whole base shake as something landed next to them. Looking outside though, he then saw the large eye of a two headed turtle that was actually a lot bigger than the already impressively large ElDradimon.

“What the hell is that!?” Tony then said, just as Beezlemon was flying by and was totally unaffected by the sudden tremor. As the Resistance Leader stopped, landed and looked at the window, the red eye looking inside it blinked as it pulled back, the owner spoke.

“Ach, good to be back on solid ground again.” said the turtle, causing Beezlemon to actually look surprised before he squealed a bit.

“Tony, we are in the same place as one of the Digimon Sovereigns.” he said, “Specifically, Ebonwumon… and as you can tell, he’s pretty big.”

“And why is it here now?” Tony asked, looking quite annoyed about the situation.

“Well, he was in digital space until the Rings were reunited.” Beezlemon then said, before grinning, “Which means, if we reunited more of the digital world, the other three sovereigns and even Examon could be able to come back as well!”

“Great…” Tony then said as he immediately assumed that the others were most likely in the same size range as Ebonwumon. Also, he really didn’t like how the much bigger turtle was looking at ElDradimon.“Think we can pull that off?”

“I really hope so.” Beezlemon said, before resuming his stroll through the base.

~~000~~

Within the base’s inner city, a good number of digimon within the resistance were going around the area’s market, those that actually had homes in that section of ElDradimon- rather than staying in the various rooms in main tower of the ruins, buying ingredients for their own cooking and shopping for clothes, seeds for their farms and other things just to feel like there wasn’t a war going on for a little while. As the market itself was actually built into various levels, it was rather common to see some digimon walking around an upper level and looking down at the ones walking below or stood on the wooden posts jutting out where some banners hung to advertise shops or mention special events to either get a better look, test their courage or throw water balloons in the case of a few prankster digimon. Also, digimon could easily go between each level by using the stairs scattered about, while four grand staircases were at each edge of the market. The one to the east going to the residential district, while the one to the north heading towards the central tower where the Resistance’s main forces and the Digital Knights were located and the Primary village just past it. The western staircase led to the farms that grew most of the food for the base (and thankfully food grew quickly in the digital world) and finally, the southern stairs led to coliseum and also the back wall of the city that was just above ElDradimon’s tail that some digimon went to see the view or watch Beezlemon ride out on Behemoth once in a while.

In the lowest part of the market, which happened to have some of the best things for sale, Kuzuhamon had just exited the base to do some shopping of her own after finally getting settled into her private room. Thanks to her skills as a shaman priestess based digimon, she had actually been given the rank of Commander and placed as Sanzomon’s second in command in terms of protecting digimon’s emotional strength and stability.

In otherwords, she was part of the Resistance’s new Psychiatric Squad. Of course, as Kuzuhamon and Sanzomon were both also able to banish the mental influence of evil digimon as well as send ghost data of digimon packing to Anubismon, the Psyche Squad also got to deal in Data Ghostbusting and On Base Investigations as well whenever the Judge of the Dead detected something, or if a digimon reported a haunting or just something off happening somewhere in the city of ruins.

It was a very large digimon they were living on after all, and not every inch had been fully explored.

“Now, where oh where is that tea-shop Renamon told me about?” Kuzuhamon said to herself, while passing an argument between a giant, ball-like digimon named BigMamemon who was just relaxing on a bench at the top of the steps leading to a higher level of the market, and a digimon named Ex-Tyrannomon, which looked like a shadowy digimon with glowing yellow eyes in a rather cheap looking tyrannomon costume. While the priestess didn’t really pay attention to the arguement, her mind was on other things as she tried looking for the teashop. Specifically, about how she never expected to meet a Renamon from her old home again, especially after what had happened to their village years ago. In fact, before that meeting, Kuzuhamon had thought she was the only survivor of that incident, had a heroic digimon not saved her life. Unfortunately, her memory of the rescue was unclear as she had passed out when her hero made his entrance, but even after mostly recovering from the ordeal, she wanted to find him, and at least thank him.

Among other things.

~~000~~

Meanwhile, on the level of the Market just above Kuzuhamon’s, Dominimon and Cho Hakkaimon were walking along after the younger brother of Seraphimon had been given the OK to join the on-base security team alongside his pig-suited partner. In fact, as the rake-wielding pig girl was eating a cartoonishly large banana cue held in one hand, while holding a freshly made giant peach turnover in the other, Dominimon looked at his friend and chuckled a bit.

“You seriously like combining bananas and peaches whenever you get the chance, don’t you?” the angel then said with a laugh, and also showing a side of him that wasn’t an arrogant moron like most digimon had seen at the beach party he and the pig crashed back in the Ring of Hope.

“Well yeah!” Cho said after swallowing a bite of both treats, “The gentle flavor of a banana combined with the wonderful sweetness of a peach makes for a practically heavenly combo I haven’t had since before I met Sanzomon!”

“Oh yeah, and since she’s helping the resistance, it’s gotta be kind of weird to see her again, right?.” Dominimon said as he remembered their first meeting, with him passing by Sanzomon and her group of Cho Hakkaimon, Sagomon and even the mighty Gokuwmon while on his way to join the Royal Guard. Of course, as he had also managed to help them fight off a rather dangerous horde diatrymon before moving on, he really didn’t expect Cho to end up following him as well.

“I mean, you did tell me she was alright with you coming with me, didn’t you? Just… why did you want to work with me in the guard, anyway?”

“Oh, just wanted to get the chance to repay you for helping out. That’s all!” Cho said quickly as she looked away and blushed a bit, “Though, I wish you’d stop hiding behind that act of yours in public, Dom, I like you a lot better when you’re well, the real Dominimon like you are now, instead of well, the arrogant, uptight moron everyone else sees you to be.”

“Cho, we both know what happened last time I tried that.” Dominimon said as he sighed and seemed actually regretful as he looked at the gauntlet he wore that projected the holy Final Excalibur blade he used to fight.

“Yeah…” Cho said as she remembered that incident when she had Dominimon fight off a rather irritating demon digimon who knew how to fight an angelic digimon that was fully trained in a very strict and traditional style of swordsmanship, and actually made him use his other battle style to even survive. 

Silence then reigned between the two, that is, until Dominimon looked down at the lower level and saw Kuzuhamon walking down the street and stopped in his tracks. He couldn’t help but find something oddly familiar about her, and while he had heard that a fox-priestess digimon had joined the Resistance alongside Sanzomon and Little Witchelny, he hadn’t gotten to meet her like Sanzomon. Then again, his attempts to see the priestess had always seemed to go wrong, whether by Cho dragging him off to go get her a big meal because she was low on energy, or something else coming up. He had briefly wondered if Cho was somehow preventing him from meeting the priestess for some reason, but considering that Cho was his best friend, he highly doubted she’d actually do something like that at all. Of course, as he now saw Kuzuhamon walk past him, even turning his head to try and get a really good look at her, he actually had to admit that the priestess in white and black was someone he felt he’d seen before, but just wasn’t sure where.

“Hey, Dom-Dom!” Cho then said, causing Dominimon to flinch as he looked at his pig-costumed friend, her cheeks puffed out a bit while she looked up at him. “What is it that’s got you zoning out while I was talking to you!?”

“Oh, sorry.” Dominimon then said as he blushed a bit, before looking back at Kuzuhamon, “Just… well, looking at her. Though, I don’t think I’ve seen a Sakuyamon wear black hakama in Miko mode.”

“That’s because she’s a Kuzuhamon, not a Sakuyamon.” Cho said with a bit of annoyance as Dominimon started walking after Kuzuhamon, and forcing the pig-girl to follow after him, “Then again, I heard that while Sakuyamon are holy priestesses and extremely powerful, Kuzuhamon are nothing but underlings, despite being a mega level like Sakuyamon, but I guess with the Kitsune Village destroyed a few years back… a Kuzuhamon is pretty rare, especially since there aren’t any Sakuyamon anymore. Just what happened to that place anyway?”

Dominimon said nothing at first, instead frowning at Cho as if disapproving of the way she spoke about the miko. Cho herself however, was rather surprised to see her friend like that, and was about to ask what was wrong just as a tremor hit, signalling the return of Ebonwumon, and also causing quite a few digimon to hit the ground as they lost their balance. As the tremor ended Dominimon and Cho immediately stood back up to survey the damage, and while it was thankfully minimal, the Bigmamemon ahead of them had managed to lose it’s balance after standing up, and was now rolling down the steps and also heading towards a stand that sold glassware.

“Cho!” Dominimon said as he started running, “You stop the big guy, I’ll try and get the others out of the way!”

“What!?” Cho said, but seeing as her friend was already in “Hero Mode,” she sighed and quickly finished eating her food- having held onto the treats the whole time, and readied her rake as she charged ahead to try and stop the rolling digimon by planting her rocket powered rake into it’s path and try and stop it like a pinball obstacle.

Unfortunately, while Cho did save the shop, after Dominimon had just finished getting a few civilians out of the strip and onto higher ground, he had just turned to see BigMamemon bounce off the rake’s handle, and start rolling towards Kuzuhamon, and as a couple of carts full of boxes that had been going to the various shops had overturned and created a few barriers that blocked off the other three staircases, the priestess was going to be squashed in a dead end if no one came in to rescue her.

“Golden Noose!” he said once he spotted a beam jutting out , firing a rope of light at the target, and seeing it latch on perfectly, Dominimon then swung down and grabbed Kuzuhamon in one arm and retracted the rope as he propelled them both upward to safety.

“You ok?” Dominimon then asked as he and Kuzuhamon watched BigMamemon finally roll to a stop after bounding off a barrier and bouncing between that and Cho Hakkaimon’s rake.

“Yes, thank you.” Kuzuhamon then said as the angel then swung off the beam and made sure they landed safely on the ground. As he let go of her though, she then smiled and pecked him on the cheek. “Though, I didn’t think someone like you, would be willing to pull off a stunt like that.”

“I uh… just acted.” he said as he stumbled a bit through his explanation, “I mean, I had to think of something since the lowest part of the market’s too narrow for me to fly safely, plus, my wings are pretty stiff so I need a running start and a clear path to go through in order to take off. By that logic, well, swinging down with a Golden Noose seemed like the best idea at the time.”

“Oh?” Kuzuhamon asked, before slyly adding, “I could have sworn I saw you smile while rescuing me, though if it was just a coincidence you pulled a move from an old swashbuckling flick, then who am I to judge?”

“Ma’am, just what were you looking for when BigMamemon lost control after the tremor?” Dominimon asked, trying to change the subject and also blushing quite a bit.

“… A tea shop Renamon told me about.” the priestess then admitted, “I could have sworn she told me it was at the bottom level of the market.”

“Oh.” Dominimon then said as he looked around to see which level he had put the two of them on, “Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s here on this level. I’ve been there a few times in the past, and if I recall correctly, it should be three shops behind you.”

Kuzuhamon turned and saw the sign, before turning back and nodding a bit as she smiled. “Thank you again.”

With that, she then turned around and headed to the shop, leaving Dominimon feeling rather good at the moment as he placed a hand on his cheek and smiled. Of course, a rather disapproving sound behind him led to the moment being killed as he turned around and saw Vikemon behind him, arms crossed and looking rather disapproving of the armored angel.

“Oh no…” Dominimon said with a groan, “Is it about how I made an ass out of myself in the Ring of hope, or about how I used Golden Noose?”

“Golden Noose.” Vikemon said, raising an eyebrow over how Dominimon seemed to expect what he was about to say, “That was not how an angel should act, you know. They don’t swing down on a rope to save the girl, and they don’t wave their weapons around like a fool, taunt their opponents or practice gymnastics.”

“H-How did you know about…” Dominimon then said, jumping a bit as he had really been caught off guard by that.

“I passed through the Village of Spirits after you and Cho Hakkaimon saved it from Duskmon.” Vikemon said rather coldly, “The fact you had to pervert the traditions of your kind to save it however, is very unfit for an Angel. Especially one in your station.“

“But if I hadn’t-” Dominimon tried to say to defend himself, only to be decked by Vikemon, and knocked to the ground.

“But nothing!” Vikemon said, “Your brother would be ashamed of you if he ever saw you Flynning around like a rogue! Angels are precise in their style of battle, disciplined heavily in their training and have very strict rules set by Ophanimon about their traditions. Especially considering who you work with, it won’t be long till your antics cause you to end up just like her.”

“What does she have to do with this!?” Dominimon snapped as he tried to get up, causing Vikemon to look surprised before kicking the angel while he was down.

“She never told you?” Vikemon asked, before laughing, “Of course she didn’t. I don’t think anyone in her position w–”

“What’s going on here?” the voice of Captain America then said, interrupting Vikemon and causing the big fluffy viking yeti to turn and face him as he stood on the steps leading to that level of the market from a higher up one.

“Nothing.” Vikemon then said as he stomped away, “Just making sure Dominimon here doesn’t do something stupid, again.”

As the beast walked off before the super soldier could try and get some answers, he then turned to Dominimon and offered a hand to help the armored angel up.

“Are you alright?” Cap then asked, while Dominimon grunted a bit before dusting himself off.

“I’m fine… Steve, right?” Dominimon said, and after getting a nod in confirmation, was about to say something else until the super soldier spoke up first.

“Want to explain why Vikemon treated you like that, after you helped Kuzuhamon?”

Dominimon simply looked away, spotting Cho Hakkaimon heading their way in worry, before he answered.

“It’s… nothing I haven’t dealt with before.” Dominimon then said, giving the super soldier the sense that there was more to Seraphimon’s brother than he saw at Whamon Cove, “Just a reminder of something I screwed up, that’s all.”

Just as Cho made it to the two, and acted rather frantic about her friend’s health, Dominimon then went on to reassure her while putting on a smile and his arrogant mask. Of course, as Captain America watched as the two walked away, he though about what he managed to catch regarding the bit about how angels were apparently supposed to act in the digital world, before the super soldier had arrived just in time to see Vikemon- Valkyrimon’s boyfriend kick the angel while he was done.

“There’s something he’s doesn’t want people to know…” he then said to himself, before heading further into the market to check and see if he could help with clean up.

~~000~~

Elsewhere in the base, Percy and Sheena had been catching up on what the girl had missed, and also explaining to her about his relation to Loki as she couldn’t remember what she had dreamt about while she was asleep. While the girl was more understanding in the waking world, and also started remembering the dream they shared briefly, Sheena was still a bit awkward around her friend.

Didn’t stop her from hugging him however.

“Thanks.” she said, while Percy smiled and hugged her back before the two stepped away from each other. “Anyway, where’s Kudamon? He’s not on your neck like he usually is.”

“Uh well…” Percy said, as a voice came out of his D-Watch.

“Don’t you dare.” it said, sounding kind of squeaky. Sheena however, immediately became interested as she soon lifted Percy’s arm and started fiddling with his D-Watch.

“H-Hey!” Percy said trying to get his arm back as Sheena giggled a bit evilly before she managed to release the boy’s partner. Instead of the usual bullet weasel however, was a nearly transparent, and fuzzy digimon with big blue eyes that had red markings around them, a fluffy tail with two purple rings around it, long ears, and finally tiny legs.

“Yeah… apparently this was why Puttimon skipped the in-training stage and went straight to Kudamon.” Percy admitted, “Meet… Kyaromon.”

“Awww! It’s so adorable!” Sheena said as she grinned at the little digimon. Kyaromon however, apparently had an elastic body as he puffed out his cheeks quite a bit out of annoyance.

“I am not adorable!” the little digimon then said, “I do not do adorable! I am a Royal Knight even if I had disgraced myself before becoming Percy’s partner, but it is more embarrassing to be seen like this! In fact, if either of you tell anyone, I will make you pay!”

The two teens then tried and failed to not laugh at the little digimon’s threat, and unknown to any of them, Esteban had been nearby. The Spaniard had seen the two hug and stopped to watch things unfold for a bit. As he adjusted his glasses and looked away, it wasn’t really out of jealousy when he began walking away from the two. In fact, he didn’t feel any heartbreak at all and decided that if Sheena and Percy wanted to be a couple after this, then who was he to stop them? He only had a silly crush on the pink haired genius after all, and even then, he couldn’t figure out what it was that had started it in the first place.

Not to mention, it caused Esteban to act like a complete asshole towards Percy.

As for Sheena and Percy, the two continued on with their chat once Kyaromon returned to the boy’s D-Watch, with Sheena commenting on Percy’s new look, and Percy grinning and explaining how it only cost him a near death experience to even be allowed to go and retrieve it. They never realized that Esteban had been nearby, and eventually, they encountered Sheena’s mother in the library.

There, Diamondback quickly ran over to hug her daughter, the woman’s apparent worry and anger at Percy finally leaving.

“Oh I thought I’d never see you again.” Diamondback then said, while Sheena just hugged her mom in silence as the former agent of SHIELD then looked to Percy, “Thank you for saving her with your partner’s help. Hey, where is Kudamon anyway?”

“Oh, just taking a nap back in our room.” Percy lied, “I’ll tell him you appreciated the save though.”

“Alright.” Diamondback then said once she released her daughter Sheena from the hug, “Anyway, Digital World is getting fixed up, right? You two better go rest up, cause we will be heading to a new ring soon, and there’s bound to be tougher fights ahead.”

“Yes ma’am.” Both teens said, before heading off on their own through the base yet again.

~~000~~

On top of the tall tower on ElDradimon’s back that acted as the very center of the city surrounding it, Nomad was sitting on the edge, taking a deep breath and feeling a bit re-energized as the Digital World took its first step towards its restoration. Figuring that while he was still alone, he could let his hood down, he did just that and let his short and normally neatly styled brown hair get a little messy in the breeze, while his black domino mask kept his eyes solid white.

“I knew there was something familiar about you.” Someone said behind him, causing ‘Nomad’ to turn his head, stand up and move away from the edge. Looking at the blue and white Zeromaru the UlforceVeedramon, he then breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, good.” Nomad then said, “For a second I was afraid it was Cap. Thanks for not exposing me back at the Cave by the way.”

Zero then gave the stranger a suspicious look and crossed his arms. “Alright Bucky, care to explain what you’re doing here?”

“Oh you know,” Bucky then said now that the jig- for the moment anyway, was up, “just taking a look around the Digital World, helping the Resistance, seeing an old friend in a weird mirror and then just getting more active and hiding my identity from him so he doesn’t get too focused on trying to save me all the time like in the old days.”

“Sir,” Zero said as he sat down, “I meant what you’re doing away from Mastemon’s palace. You’re the avatar of Yggdrasil, you shouldn’t even be able to leave the Center of Light!”

“Yeah… I’ve been picking Royal Knights brought before me in the Computer Core over in the Holy Donut Hole for so long, I just got curious what else I was running.” Bucky explained, “And it’s the Center of Darkness now that Plutomon’s done with the place… He doesn’t even know I exist either, only you do Zero… oh and Snowball, Anubismon and Quartette, but I like Quarty a lot better, easier on the eyes too.”

“But, how did you even manage to leave unnoticed?” Zero asked, still confused by the apparent Avatar of the Digital World. “Not to mention I’ve always been wondering about that form you normally take.”

“Not going to spill the beans on how I look, at least not yet. As for your first question Zero, I broke out while connected to the Tunnel of Regrets, and hitched a ride on Steve’s shield as a bit of Digi-Code until we hit the Ring of Love. Hijacked the trial Steve would have gotten, but eh, worth it considering what he had to do to survive the original and trust me when I say it wouldn’t have been something he’d do willingly.” Bucky then said, “Anywho, after the Ring of Love I’d been hanging around the base unseen, and even hid myself on Piedmon’s ribbons when he and Percy decided to go rescue Sheena, but then I decided to take a more physical form during that whole mess in Little Witchelny later on, and decided to go with my current look and call myself Nomad while I’m incognito.”

“You could have headed out at any time, couldn’t you?” Zero asked flatly, while Bucky decided to sit down next to the Royal Knight.

“Bingo.” Bucky said, “Anyway… you’ll keep my identity between us, right?”

“Of course, I mean, we’re friends right?” Zero said causing Bucky to smile, “Though, I’ve been wondering something… why did I end up as a Royal Knight in this digital world anyway? Well, or at least replace my counterpart from this place?”

“Eh, thought you were more entertaining.” Bucky said with a shrug, “Besides, I figured someone like you would help Sleipmon get that stick out of his ass after he got annoyed for a while. Seriously, even after being reborn, he’s so uptight when he’s not losing his temper! Hopefully Percy can give him a sense of humor.”

“And what about Alphamon?” Zero then asked, causing Bucky to look a bit confused.

“Hey, he died before I showed up.” the masked avatar then said as he pulled his hood back over his head, “So, I don’t know much about him other than what I hear and see about Dorumon.”

“Well, there goes that mystery.” Zero said with a sigh, “Anyway, I’ll talk to you later, ok B- Nomad?”

“Seeya.” Nomad then said, and watched as Zero headed towards the edge and jumped, diving through the sky towards the ground and then using his wings as an air-brake to slow the descent and do a bit of flying before ElDradimon left for the next Ring. Once that was done, Nomad then stretched a bit and stood back up again, before snapping his fingers and teleporting to another part of the base.

~~000~~

In the tech lab, Bruce Davidson had decided to visit Wisemon, as something about the book bound digimon had been bothering him.

“Hey, uh, Wisemon?” the young boy said, getting the hooded digimon’s attention as his metallic probes looked Bruce over at the boy’s personal request. “I think I might have seen you on Voltamon’s blimp in Little Witchelny… do you like to conduct a band sometimes?”

Wisemon flinched and glared at the nine year old, neither of them noticing Nomad teleport just behind the head of the Resistance’s tech division. “Bruce, I would like you to know that you didn’t see anything, and even if you did, don’t tell anyone.”

“Tell anyone what?” Nomad then asked, causing Wisemon to let out a shriek as he jumped a bit. Quickly, Wisemon then recomposed himself and cleared his throat.

“Nothing that concerns you Nomad, now go wait outside, I still have an examination to do.” he said, pointing towards the door. Nomad however, simply grinned and whistled to himself as he left the room.

~~000~~

Elsewhere, Scott and Jean were with Tina in her room, the girl staying in bed as her leg healed, especially since they’d be moving on soon to the next ring. While Astamon sat nearby reading a book, the PawnChessmon were playing a game of checkers where White was beating Black.

“We didn’t really do much.” Jean then said, with her brother and her friend nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, this whole thing seemed more focused on Percy, Piedmon and a bit on Bruce from how it feels to me. Hell, the base wasn’t even attacked once!” Scott said, just as Diamondback walked in, apparently being on Nurse Duty while Valkyrimon was busy treating those injured during the tremor earlier, as she had brought Tina something to eat.

“I know how you kids feel.” the magenta haired woman then said as she placed the tray down, “Here I was, ready to help out in the fight, only to be put on Lockdown. Let me tell you, Blastmon and Renamon were pretty unhappy with that, while Ophanimon just enjoyed it as a break.”

“Thank you Mrs. Barnes.” Tina said, being as respectful as possible to Sheena’s mom, “But yeah, I really hope we get more to do in the next Ring.”

Unfortunately, as the door was open, Esteban had walked by and heard the whole conversation and decided to chime in as well. “I know how you feel, Ryudamon didn’t even get a chance to fight, or digivolve!”

“Shut up Esteban, you were just an asshole.” Scott, Jean and Tina then said, while the armored dragon in question merely waved at the group, as if trying to show he was still around.

~~000~~

Back on Earth, in a burned out house in Romania, near the ruins of a destroyed village, a young boy was digging around his old room, his soot covered face and brown hair showing how long he’d been at it. He had lost everything as far as he knew, and for now, just wanted to see if there was still something that the destruction that occurred hadn’t taken. Finally, he reached the still standing door to his closet, and opened it up. While he was glad that everything inside was intact, even if it was only clothes, old toys, and a few books, he then noticed something right in the middle of it.

A red egg with four odd symbols on the shell, and next to it, a bright red object that resembled a small book and had a letter poking out from under the cover. The strangest thing though, was that the book was playing a melody he had never heard before, and also noted that it sounded like it was being played on the piano. Taking the device in hand and opening it up, he then ignored the letter for the moment, and looked at the four buttons inside the device, three arrows and a round button right next to the screen, which read “Ballad of the Beast.”

Slipping the object and letter in his pocket, the boy then picked up the large egg and carried it out of the remains of his old home, feeling like there was nothing else he could do, but take care of whatever was inside.

~~000~~

Back in the digital world, specifically the Ring of Kindness, Hawkeye had just made it back to the cave he, and a few other digimon had been hiding out in. Noticing how no one came to greet him however, the Avenger quickly pulled out his bow, and grabbed one of the arrows he had made from a stick, some falcomon feathers and a fanbeemon’s stinger and nocked it, ready to fire in case of trouble.

Heading inside, he looked around while feeling tense and sensing that something wasn’t right about this. When he spotted the digimon frozen in amber however, he knew he was right. Instead of investigating further though, he immediately turned around and ran away, never realizing he was being followed as he couldn’t hear the sickening laughter behind him as the chase began.

He ran through the forest, ran through the thickets, and even ran through places a rabbitmon wouldn’t even go as he made his escape. Though he felt something strike his back at one point, he ignored it as he realized he was in bigger trouble upon seeing he was out in the open, and Ceresmon was overhead.

“Oh crap.” Hawkeye said, just as the bird made of rock and soil dove down and for Hawkeye, all went black.

As for his pursuer from the cave, it showed up after the fact. With Ceresmon and Hawkeye long gone, the only thing it could find were the Archer’s sunglasses. Picking them up in its over-sized hand, it then slipped them over its large green eyes, thinking that it would look pretty cool as it then decided to return to its master.

It’s mission was complete after all, as far as it knew anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are at last with the end of Arc two. Originally, the bit with Kuzuhamon, Dominimon, Cho Hakkaimon and the Market Place wasn't detailed. however, as I plotted out more of Arc 3, I ended up looking back and decided to try and show just something extra, mainly because well, let's just say that Dominimon is going to be a bit important during the next arc, and Kuzuhamon will as well. 
> 
> I also kind of made Vikemon a bit of a dick here, didn't I? Then again, this is a complete 180 from how he acted in his debut chapter. I wonder if there's something going on that Valkyrimon may or may not know about?
> 
> As for Kudamon hating being considered cute? Well, you got to admit, as a Royal Knight, he does feel he's got a sense of decorum to maintain. Doesn't stop him from doing things that are considered adorable though.
> 
> Also, remember Flamemon's egg? Well, we also get a peek at who found it, though the circumstances don't seem to be very good...
> 
> And yeah... got a bit meta there with the scene with Jean, Scott, Tina and their partners, didn't it?
> 
> Anyway, next time in Arc three of Digivengers: Kindness, SEE!
> 
> Hawkeye having a few changes in his life!  
> A thieving and cheating bastard digimon!  
> Doctor Strange?  
> THE DARK OCEAN!?  
> Bruce fill out his role of the Knight of Kindness!  
> Conspiracy and things that aren't as they seem!  
> The Man who Punched God in the Face!  
> Roland's Human past revealed!
> 
> AND SO MUCH MORE!
> 
> Seriously. Next arc is going to be a little over 50 chapters, there's going to be a lot of stuff...


End file.
